Politics, Parties, Candidates
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Politics, Parties, Candidates
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Washington State Democratic Party: Chair Conrad Statement on Proud Boy Bigots Disrupting Seattle Diwali Celebration
SEATTLE, Washington, Nov. 10 -- The Washington State Democratic Party issued the following news release:
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November 8, 2026
Chair Conrad Statement on Proud Boy Bigots Disrupting Seattle Diwali Celebration
Seattle, WA - Chair Shasti Conrad released the following statement reacting to reports of Proud Boys disrupting the Diwali Celebration at Seattle Center with bigotry and anti-immigrant signage:
"I am deeply disturbed by reports that Proud Boys and others associated with January 6 disrupted a Diwali celebration in Seattle with hateful and anti-immigrant messages. Let's be clear: Hindu ... Show Full Article SEATTLE, Washington, Nov. 10 -- The Washington State Democratic Party issued the following news release: * * * November 8, 2026 Chair Conrad Statement on Proud Boy Bigots Disrupting Seattle Diwali Celebration Seattle, WA - Chair Shasti Conrad released the following statement reacting to reports of Proud Boys disrupting the Diwali Celebration at Seattle Center with bigotry and anti-immigrant signage: "I am deeply disturbed by reports that Proud Boys and others associated with January 6 disrupted a Diwali celebration in Seattle with hateful and anti-immigrant messages. Let's be clear: HinduAmericans, the South Asian community, and everybody else should be able to celebrate their faith, culture, and traditions without intimidation or harassment.
"Diwali celebrates light overcoming darkness, good overcoming evil, and hope overcoming fear. Those who stepped up to protect our community in the face of hate embodied the spirit of Diwali. There is no place for hate, racism, or religious bigotry in our society.
"My story began in India. I feel this attack personally. No one should ever feel unwelcome, unsafe, or afraid to celebrate who they are. To everyone who celebrated Diwali in Seattle: you belong here. We stand with you. And we will not allow hate to define our communities."
The Washington State Democratic Party is committed to advancing progressive policy, empowering the grassroots, and ensuring Democratic victories up and down the ballot. Chair of the Washington Democrats, Shasti Conrad, is the first Indian-American woman to chair a major state party and led the most successful Democratic state party in 2024 and continued that streak into 2026, achieving a legislative supermajority in the State House.
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Original text here: https://wadems.org/press/11-8-26-chair-conrad-statement-on-proud-boy-bigots-disrupting-seattle-diwali-celebration/
* * *
November 8, 2026
Chair Conrad Statement on Proud Boy Bigots Disrupting Seattle Diwali Celebration
Seattle, WA - Chair Shasti Conrad released the following statement reacting to reports of Proud Boys disrupting the Diwali Celebration at Seattle Center with bigotry and anti-immigrant signage:
"I am deeply disturbed by reports that Proud Boys and others associated with January 6 disrupted a Diwali celebration in Seattle with hateful and anti-immigrant messages. Let's be clear: Hindu ... Show Full Article SEATTLE, Washington, Nov. 10 -- The Washington State Democratic Party issued the following news release: * * * November 8, 2026 Chair Conrad Statement on Proud Boy Bigots Disrupting Seattle Diwali Celebration Seattle, WA - Chair Shasti Conrad released the following statement reacting to reports of Proud Boys disrupting the Diwali Celebration at Seattle Center with bigotry and anti-immigrant signage: "I am deeply disturbed by reports that Proud Boys and others associated with January 6 disrupted a Diwali celebration in Seattle with hateful and anti-immigrant messages. Let's be clear: HinduAmericans, the South Asian community, and everybody else should be able to celebrate their faith, culture, and traditions without intimidation or harassment.
"Diwali celebrates light overcoming darkness, good overcoming evil, and hope overcoming fear. Those who stepped up to protect our community in the face of hate embodied the spirit of Diwali. There is no place for hate, racism, or religious bigotry in our society.
"My story began in India. I feel this attack personally. No one should ever feel unwelcome, unsafe, or afraid to celebrate who they are. To everyone who celebrated Diwali in Seattle: you belong here. We stand with you. And we will not allow hate to define our communities."
The Washington State Democratic Party is committed to advancing progressive policy, empowering the grassroots, and ensuring Democratic victories up and down the ballot. Chair of the Washington Democrats, Shasti Conrad, is the first Indian-American woman to chair a major state party and led the most successful Democratic state party in 2024 and continued that streak into 2026, achieving a legislative supermajority in the State House.
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Original text here: https://wadems.org/press/11-8-26-chair-conrad-statement-on-proud-boy-bigots-disrupting-seattle-diwali-celebration/
Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde Releases Statement on Election Results
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 10 -- The Ohio Democratic Party posted the following news:
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Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde Releases Statement on Election Results
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COLUMBUS, OH - With races up and down the ballot now called across Ohio, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde issued the following statement on the 2026 midterm election results in Ohio:
"Despite Republicans spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to buy this election, Ohioans showed us that they are ready for new leadership in Washington and Columbus that puts workers over billionaires and Ohio families over ... Show Full Article COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 10 -- The Ohio Democratic Party posted the following news: * * * Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde Releases Statement on Election Results * COLUMBUS, OH - With races up and down the ballot now called across Ohio, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde issued the following statement on the 2026 midterm election results in Ohio: "Despite Republicans spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to buy this election, Ohioans showed us that they are ready for new leadership in Washington and Columbus that puts workers over billionaires and Ohio families overcorrupt special interests. I could not be prouder of what we built this cycle: We knocked on hundreds of thousands of doors, made countless phone calls, and left no rock unturned as we connected with Ohioans in every corner of the state. As we celebrate these hard-fought victories, I want to be clear that our work is only just beginning. Ohioans are counting on us to deliver lower costs, tackle the rampant corruption that has raised prices for Ohio working families, and get our state and country back on track. Let's get to work."
Here are some of the historic gains that Ohio Democrats made in this year's election:
Ohio Governor - Dr. Amy Acton
United States Senate - Sherrod Brown
Ohio Secretary of State - Allison Russo
Ohio Attorney General - John Kulewicz
Ohio Treasurer - Seth Walsh
Ohio Supreme Court - Justice Jennifer Brunner, Judge Marilyn Zayas
United States House of Representatives: Ohio Democrats successfully defended all five Democratic congressional incumbents (Rep. Greg Landsman, Rep. Joyce Beatty, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Rep. Shontel Brown, Rep. Emilia Sykes) and flipped three congressional seats (Brian Poindexter, Kristina Knickerbocker, and Don Leonard).
Ohio State House: Ohio Democrats successfully defended all 34 Democratic incumbent seats in the Ohio State House. Ohio Democrats also broke the Republican supermajority in the Ohio State House this year, picking up eight seats that will be key to helping Governor-Elect Dr. Amy Acton deliver lower costs for Ohioans:
* Megan Coy (HD-17)
* J. Noah Spinner (HD-31)
* Samantha Salamon (HD-35)
* Rose Lounsbury (HD-36)
* Daquan Neal (HD-39)
* Krista Allison (HD-49)
* Mike Baker (HD-52)
* Shelby Kimball (HD-60)
Additionally, there remain a few candidates for Ohio State House whose races have yet to be called, and the Ohio Democratic Party is working closely with the legislative caucuses to support our candidates in these outstanding races:
* Jonathan Bradner, candidate for HD-29
* Tom Herner, candidate for HD-37
* David J. Fournier, candidate for HD-44
* Richard Rettig, candidate for HD-75
Ohio State Senate: Ohio Democrats successfully defended all six Democratic incumbent seats in the Ohio State Senate that were up for reelection this year. Ohio Democrats also picked up two seats in the Ohio State Senate:
* Stacie Baker (SD-03)
* Mike Roberto (SD-27)
***
Original text here: https://ohiodems.org/ohio-democratic-party-chair-kathleen-clyde-releases-statement-on-election-results/
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Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde Releases Statement on Election Results
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COLUMBUS, OH - With races up and down the ballot now called across Ohio, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde issued the following statement on the 2026 midterm election results in Ohio:
"Despite Republicans spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to buy this election, Ohioans showed us that they are ready for new leadership in Washington and Columbus that puts workers over billionaires and Ohio families over ... Show Full Article COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 10 -- The Ohio Democratic Party posted the following news: * * * Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde Releases Statement on Election Results * COLUMBUS, OH - With races up and down the ballot now called across Ohio, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde issued the following statement on the 2026 midterm election results in Ohio: "Despite Republicans spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to buy this election, Ohioans showed us that they are ready for new leadership in Washington and Columbus that puts workers over billionaires and Ohio families overcorrupt special interests. I could not be prouder of what we built this cycle: We knocked on hundreds of thousands of doors, made countless phone calls, and left no rock unturned as we connected with Ohioans in every corner of the state. As we celebrate these hard-fought victories, I want to be clear that our work is only just beginning. Ohioans are counting on us to deliver lower costs, tackle the rampant corruption that has raised prices for Ohio working families, and get our state and country back on track. Let's get to work."
Here are some of the historic gains that Ohio Democrats made in this year's election:
Ohio Governor - Dr. Amy Acton
United States Senate - Sherrod Brown
Ohio Secretary of State - Allison Russo
Ohio Attorney General - John Kulewicz
Ohio Treasurer - Seth Walsh
Ohio Supreme Court - Justice Jennifer Brunner, Judge Marilyn Zayas
United States House of Representatives: Ohio Democrats successfully defended all five Democratic congressional incumbents (Rep. Greg Landsman, Rep. Joyce Beatty, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Rep. Shontel Brown, Rep. Emilia Sykes) and flipped three congressional seats (Brian Poindexter, Kristina Knickerbocker, and Don Leonard).
Ohio State House: Ohio Democrats successfully defended all 34 Democratic incumbent seats in the Ohio State House. Ohio Democrats also broke the Republican supermajority in the Ohio State House this year, picking up eight seats that will be key to helping Governor-Elect Dr. Amy Acton deliver lower costs for Ohioans:
* Megan Coy (HD-17)
* J. Noah Spinner (HD-31)
* Samantha Salamon (HD-35)
* Rose Lounsbury (HD-36)
* Daquan Neal (HD-39)
* Krista Allison (HD-49)
* Mike Baker (HD-52)
* Shelby Kimball (HD-60)
Additionally, there remain a few candidates for Ohio State House whose races have yet to be called, and the Ohio Democratic Party is working closely with the legislative caucuses to support our candidates in these outstanding races:
* Jonathan Bradner, candidate for HD-29
* Tom Herner, candidate for HD-37
* David J. Fournier, candidate for HD-44
* Richard Rettig, candidate for HD-75
Ohio State Senate: Ohio Democrats successfully defended all six Democratic incumbent seats in the Ohio State Senate that were up for reelection this year. Ohio Democrats also picked up two seats in the Ohio State Senate:
* Stacie Baker (SD-03)
* Mike Roberto (SD-27)
***
Original text here: https://ohiodems.org/ohio-democratic-party-chair-kathleen-clyde-releases-statement-on-election-results/
MEMO: How the DCCC Delivered Democrats The Largest House Majority This Century
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 -- The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee posted the following news release:
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MEMO: How the DCCC Delivered Democrats The Largest House Majority This Century
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From: DCCC
Date: November 9, 2026
Subject: How the DCCC Delivered Democrats The Largest House Majority This Century
The DCCC started the 2026 election cycle only needing to net three seats to win back the majority, thanks to House Democrats' overperformance across the country in 2024. Heading into the cycle, we knew three things:
To win back the majority, the DCCC focused early on on implementing ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 -- The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee posted the following news release: * * * MEMO: How the DCCC Delivered Democrats The Largest House Majority This Century * From: DCCC Date: November 9, 2026 Subject: How the DCCC Delivered Democrats The Largest House Majority This Century The DCCC started the 2026 election cycle only needing to net three seats to win back the majority, thanks to House Democrats' overperformance across the country in 2024. Heading into the cycle, we knew three things: To win back the majority, the DCCC focused early on on implementingthe following strategies.
Built an Expansive Battlefield That Allowed Us to Expand the Map Throughout the Cycle, Including Reaching Deeper into Trump-Won Districts.
Protecting the Frontline
Our initial class of Frontliners (defensive incumbents) of 26 members was possible thanks to the level at which our candidates overperformed the top of the ticket in 2024 which was, on average, by 2.7 points. As the cycle progressed, thanks to their backgrounds and personal brands, as well as the wins they delivered for their districts and early disqualification of their opponents, we were able to 'roll off' Frontliners that, through analysis and data, we deemed as no longer in highly competitive, general election districts, including freshman Reps. George Whitesides (CA-27), Dave Min (CA-47), and John Mannion (NY-22). This enabled us to add newly vulnerable members to the program as mid-decade redistricting took shape, including Reps. Shomari Figures (AL-02), Greg Landsman (OH-01), Darren Soto (FL-09), Kathy Castor (FL-14), and Jared Moskowitz (FL-25), without ever increasing our topline number of 26 incumbents in competitive, general election races. Post-2026 election, every single one of our final 26 Frontliners were reelected to Congress by an average of 16 points.
Constantly Expanding the Offensive Battlefield
Simultaneously, in April 2025, the DCCC rolled out its initial Districts in Play (offensive opportunities) of 35 districts, a more expansive, offensive list than at the start of the previous cycle. This initial list, which would eventually grow to 66, included districts that many pundits at the time thought unwinnable, such as IA-02, KY-06, MI-04, and OH-10. Even when pundits were warning that we were expanding the map too far, we stayed the course, highlighting winnable races that we knew could break our way with proper investment, including uplifting key races to donors in the home stretch and via our F*** Around and Find Out Fund. Democrats have so far won 44 of the DCCC's 66 Districts in Play, which includes 34 of 46 Red to Blue races, and won the four aforementioned seats that were considered 'unwinnable.' We knew we needed to stretch our battlefield as much as possible, while the NRCC Chair (who just lost his race) kept telling reporters that control of the House would be decided by "probably less than 30 seats, each one can be decided by 1,000 votes or less."
Recruiting Earlier Than Ever, With An Emphasis on Authentic, Independent-Minded Candidates
The DCCC started recruitment conversations earlier than ever, recognizing that the key to winning in these districts was finding candidates who were able to transcend partisan politics, were rooted in their communities, and known outside of being just another Democrat. With candidates who ran in 2024 willing to step up and run again in 2026 like Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), and Rebecca Cooke (WI-03) - all of whom overperformed the top of the ticket in 2024 - we knew we were starting in a strong place.
As DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene often says, our candidates are our "secret sauce." The DCCC - aided by the work of our Recruitment Co-Chairs Reps. Lauren Underwood, Morgan McGarvey, and Jason Crow - focused on recruiting candidates who had deep roots in their communities, whose personal stories connected them to voters across their districts, and who were able to speak authentically to the issues that matter. From firefighter and high school baseball coach Bob Brooks (PA-07) to Henrico County's prosecutor and public safety champion Shannon Taylor (VA-01) to ER nurse Mitchell Berman (WI-01), the DCCC aggressively recruited and aided candidates across the country who know what hardworking families are going through and who are known entities in their districts.
It's Still the Economy, Stupid. And Corruption. And (Health) Care.
We knew costs would be the main issue of the cycle and House Democrats and candidates were relentless in bringing everything back to this topic, while not getting distracted by other issues, whether it be culture wars or the latest Trump construction project. The DCCC was among the first to publicly declare that costs would be THE issue of the midterms as early as April 2025 after "Liberation Day" tariffs when we released an Interested Parties memo staking our claim that we'd hold Republicans accountable for their already broken promise to lower costs, highlighting ads those same Republicans ran on in 2024. We defeated every single Republican highlighted in the memo.
After the Big, Ugly Bill, it became clear that access to affordable health care would be another major electoral issue. Democrats were firm in fighting for a vote to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, and voters responded positively to that fight. DCCC internal focus groups of the House battlefield from February 2026 noted that "fighting to lower costs on groceries, housing, and health care" was the top reason to vote for a Democrat. This bore out in quantitative data, as well: in October 2026, national polling found that Democrats had gained the upper hand when it comes to who voters trusted more on the economy. Whether it was Jake Johnson (MN-01) traveling to all 21 counties in the district on his Receipts Tour, where voters bring their literal receipts and talk about how high costs are affecting them, or Johnny Garcia (TX-35) highlighting how the community simply wants to afford barbacoa and Big Red after church on Sunday, or Randy Villegas (CA-22) holding David Valadao accountable for voting for the Big, Ugly Bill even while two-thirds of his Central Valley constituents relies on Medicaid, every single one of our candidates took the issue of high costs and localized it to their districts. In all three of these districts, messages on lowering costs - and negatives hitting Republicans for their actions that raised costs - was the top testing issue.
Throughout their two years in power, Republicans demonstrated to voters that they would always prioritize looking out for the wealthy and well-connected rather than hardworking families, starting with cutting Medicaid and food assistance to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest few in the Big, Ugly Bill to selling influence and self-enrichment for the first family. For Democrats running across the House battlefield, we turned this corruption into an affordability issue - holding vulnerable House Republicans accountable for their broken promises and economic failures while enriching themselves. Last week's election results proved that message resonated across the battlefield.
Turned GOP Attempts to Rig the Midterms Against Them, Neutralizing Their Attacks & Even Turning Them Into Positives.
DCCC Chair DelBene raised the alarm in September 2025 in an op-ed titled "How we're fighting back against the GOP's attacks on free and fair elections" that Republicans were doing everything they could to hold onto power and rig the midterms in their favor. Through strategic planning and staying nimble on internal structures and staffing, we were able to either neutralize their efforts and, in some instances, turn their efforts into positives for us.
Republicans' Mid-Decade Redistricting
Trump and Republicans publicly declared in July 2025 that they deserved five more seats out of Texas. Their attempts to steal seats from voters in Texas, Florida, Ohio, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina supremely backfired. Every single one of our Frontliners who Republicans attempted to unseat with gerrymandered maps won reelection, despite Republicans spending more than $137 million to unseat them - again, in races that were supposed to be automatic flips for them. Stellar recruits across these states - such as Johnny Garcia (TX-35), Pia Dandiya (FL-22), and Kristina Knickerbocker (OH-10) - meant that we were able to flip races in our favor, in addition to holding the line.
Democrats did not ask for this fight but, under the leadership of soon-to-be Speaker Jeffries and in partnership with Eric Holder's NDRC, we refused to sit idly by - we decided to fight fire with fire. Not only were Democrats able to prevent multiple states from redistricting, including Indiana and New Hampshire through voter pressure and Missouri through legal means, but we were able to go on offense by taking matters directly to voters with a temporary, voter-driven measure in California and an initiative in Missouri to block their new map
Coordinated Campaign Spending Limits Lifted
We knew from the start of the cycle that we needed to have a contingency plan for if the Supreme Court went along with Republicans' efforts to undermine campaign finance guardrails put in place after Watergate to stop corruption; particularly as the Republican ecosystem had significantly more money than Democrats did (despite the DCCC and NRCC fundraising at pace all cycle). When the Supreme Court complied, the DCCC sprung into action - working directly with our campaign's media firms on coordinated TV ads and purposefully buying ads week to week given the Committee's new ability to access lowest unit rate. This also allowed us to adjust to our ever-expanding map, ensuring candidates like Mitchell Berman (WI-01) and Teresa Benitez-Thompson (NV-02) could effectively communicate in their media markets in the homestretch. The DCCC invested, via coordinated TV spending, in 36 races that have flipped from red to blue - proving that our strategic investments and push to expand the map from the start of the cycle paid off. In the end, despite Republicans spending more via coordinated campaign spending (over $100 million to roughly $85 million), Democrats were able to win more races with less money thanks to our forward-thinking strategy and planning.
The Bottom Line, as Told By the Winning Stats: Democrats have won the largest majority this century, a bigger majority than we had when President Obama was inaugurated in 2009. As of Monday, November 9, the DCCC has:
***
Original text here: https://dccc.org/memo-how-the-dccc-delivered-democrats-the-largest-house-majority-this-century/
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MEMO: How the DCCC Delivered Democrats The Largest House Majority This Century
*
From: DCCC
Date: November 9, 2026
Subject: How the DCCC Delivered Democrats The Largest House Majority This Century
The DCCC started the 2026 election cycle only needing to net three seats to win back the majority, thanks to House Democrats' overperformance across the country in 2024. Heading into the cycle, we knew three things:
To win back the majority, the DCCC focused early on on implementing ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 -- The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee posted the following news release: * * * MEMO: How the DCCC Delivered Democrats The Largest House Majority This Century * From: DCCC Date: November 9, 2026 Subject: How the DCCC Delivered Democrats The Largest House Majority This Century The DCCC started the 2026 election cycle only needing to net three seats to win back the majority, thanks to House Democrats' overperformance across the country in 2024. Heading into the cycle, we knew three things: To win back the majority, the DCCC focused early on on implementingthe following strategies.
Built an Expansive Battlefield That Allowed Us to Expand the Map Throughout the Cycle, Including Reaching Deeper into Trump-Won Districts.
Protecting the Frontline
Our initial class of Frontliners (defensive incumbents) of 26 members was possible thanks to the level at which our candidates overperformed the top of the ticket in 2024 which was, on average, by 2.7 points. As the cycle progressed, thanks to their backgrounds and personal brands, as well as the wins they delivered for their districts and early disqualification of their opponents, we were able to 'roll off' Frontliners that, through analysis and data, we deemed as no longer in highly competitive, general election districts, including freshman Reps. George Whitesides (CA-27), Dave Min (CA-47), and John Mannion (NY-22). This enabled us to add newly vulnerable members to the program as mid-decade redistricting took shape, including Reps. Shomari Figures (AL-02), Greg Landsman (OH-01), Darren Soto (FL-09), Kathy Castor (FL-14), and Jared Moskowitz (FL-25), without ever increasing our topline number of 26 incumbents in competitive, general election races. Post-2026 election, every single one of our final 26 Frontliners were reelected to Congress by an average of 16 points.
Constantly Expanding the Offensive Battlefield
Simultaneously, in April 2025, the DCCC rolled out its initial Districts in Play (offensive opportunities) of 35 districts, a more expansive, offensive list than at the start of the previous cycle. This initial list, which would eventually grow to 66, included districts that many pundits at the time thought unwinnable, such as IA-02, KY-06, MI-04, and OH-10. Even when pundits were warning that we were expanding the map too far, we stayed the course, highlighting winnable races that we knew could break our way with proper investment, including uplifting key races to donors in the home stretch and via our F*** Around and Find Out Fund. Democrats have so far won 44 of the DCCC's 66 Districts in Play, which includes 34 of 46 Red to Blue races, and won the four aforementioned seats that were considered 'unwinnable.' We knew we needed to stretch our battlefield as much as possible, while the NRCC Chair (who just lost his race) kept telling reporters that control of the House would be decided by "probably less than 30 seats, each one can be decided by 1,000 votes or less."
Recruiting Earlier Than Ever, With An Emphasis on Authentic, Independent-Minded Candidates
The DCCC started recruitment conversations earlier than ever, recognizing that the key to winning in these districts was finding candidates who were able to transcend partisan politics, were rooted in their communities, and known outside of being just another Democrat. With candidates who ran in 2024 willing to step up and run again in 2026 like Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), and Rebecca Cooke (WI-03) - all of whom overperformed the top of the ticket in 2024 - we knew we were starting in a strong place.
As DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene often says, our candidates are our "secret sauce." The DCCC - aided by the work of our Recruitment Co-Chairs Reps. Lauren Underwood, Morgan McGarvey, and Jason Crow - focused on recruiting candidates who had deep roots in their communities, whose personal stories connected them to voters across their districts, and who were able to speak authentically to the issues that matter. From firefighter and high school baseball coach Bob Brooks (PA-07) to Henrico County's prosecutor and public safety champion Shannon Taylor (VA-01) to ER nurse Mitchell Berman (WI-01), the DCCC aggressively recruited and aided candidates across the country who know what hardworking families are going through and who are known entities in their districts.
It's Still the Economy, Stupid. And Corruption. And (Health) Care.
We knew costs would be the main issue of the cycle and House Democrats and candidates were relentless in bringing everything back to this topic, while not getting distracted by other issues, whether it be culture wars or the latest Trump construction project. The DCCC was among the first to publicly declare that costs would be THE issue of the midterms as early as April 2025 after "Liberation Day" tariffs when we released an Interested Parties memo staking our claim that we'd hold Republicans accountable for their already broken promise to lower costs, highlighting ads those same Republicans ran on in 2024. We defeated every single Republican highlighted in the memo.
After the Big, Ugly Bill, it became clear that access to affordable health care would be another major electoral issue. Democrats were firm in fighting for a vote to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, and voters responded positively to that fight. DCCC internal focus groups of the House battlefield from February 2026 noted that "fighting to lower costs on groceries, housing, and health care" was the top reason to vote for a Democrat. This bore out in quantitative data, as well: in October 2026, national polling found that Democrats had gained the upper hand when it comes to who voters trusted more on the economy. Whether it was Jake Johnson (MN-01) traveling to all 21 counties in the district on his Receipts Tour, where voters bring their literal receipts and talk about how high costs are affecting them, or Johnny Garcia (TX-35) highlighting how the community simply wants to afford barbacoa and Big Red after church on Sunday, or Randy Villegas (CA-22) holding David Valadao accountable for voting for the Big, Ugly Bill even while two-thirds of his Central Valley constituents relies on Medicaid, every single one of our candidates took the issue of high costs and localized it to their districts. In all three of these districts, messages on lowering costs - and negatives hitting Republicans for their actions that raised costs - was the top testing issue.
Throughout their two years in power, Republicans demonstrated to voters that they would always prioritize looking out for the wealthy and well-connected rather than hardworking families, starting with cutting Medicaid and food assistance to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest few in the Big, Ugly Bill to selling influence and self-enrichment for the first family. For Democrats running across the House battlefield, we turned this corruption into an affordability issue - holding vulnerable House Republicans accountable for their broken promises and economic failures while enriching themselves. Last week's election results proved that message resonated across the battlefield.
Turned GOP Attempts to Rig the Midterms Against Them, Neutralizing Their Attacks & Even Turning Them Into Positives.
DCCC Chair DelBene raised the alarm in September 2025 in an op-ed titled "How we're fighting back against the GOP's attacks on free and fair elections" that Republicans were doing everything they could to hold onto power and rig the midterms in their favor. Through strategic planning and staying nimble on internal structures and staffing, we were able to either neutralize their efforts and, in some instances, turn their efforts into positives for us.
Republicans' Mid-Decade Redistricting
Trump and Republicans publicly declared in July 2025 that they deserved five more seats out of Texas. Their attempts to steal seats from voters in Texas, Florida, Ohio, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina supremely backfired. Every single one of our Frontliners who Republicans attempted to unseat with gerrymandered maps won reelection, despite Republicans spending more than $137 million to unseat them - again, in races that were supposed to be automatic flips for them. Stellar recruits across these states - such as Johnny Garcia (TX-35), Pia Dandiya (FL-22), and Kristina Knickerbocker (OH-10) - meant that we were able to flip races in our favor, in addition to holding the line.
Democrats did not ask for this fight but, under the leadership of soon-to-be Speaker Jeffries and in partnership with Eric Holder's NDRC, we refused to sit idly by - we decided to fight fire with fire. Not only were Democrats able to prevent multiple states from redistricting, including Indiana and New Hampshire through voter pressure and Missouri through legal means, but we were able to go on offense by taking matters directly to voters with a temporary, voter-driven measure in California and an initiative in Missouri to block their new map
Coordinated Campaign Spending Limits Lifted
We knew from the start of the cycle that we needed to have a contingency plan for if the Supreme Court went along with Republicans' efforts to undermine campaign finance guardrails put in place after Watergate to stop corruption; particularly as the Republican ecosystem had significantly more money than Democrats did (despite the DCCC and NRCC fundraising at pace all cycle). When the Supreme Court complied, the DCCC sprung into action - working directly with our campaign's media firms on coordinated TV ads and purposefully buying ads week to week given the Committee's new ability to access lowest unit rate. This also allowed us to adjust to our ever-expanding map, ensuring candidates like Mitchell Berman (WI-01) and Teresa Benitez-Thompson (NV-02) could effectively communicate in their media markets in the homestretch. The DCCC invested, via coordinated TV spending, in 36 races that have flipped from red to blue - proving that our strategic investments and push to expand the map from the start of the cycle paid off. In the end, despite Republicans spending more via coordinated campaign spending (over $100 million to roughly $85 million), Democrats were able to win more races with less money thanks to our forward-thinking strategy and planning.
The Bottom Line, as Told By the Winning Stats: Democrats have won the largest majority this century, a bigger majority than we had when President Obama was inaugurated in 2009. As of Monday, November 9, the DCCC has:
***
Original text here: https://dccc.org/memo-how-the-dccc-delivered-democrats-the-largest-house-majority-this-century/
ICYMI: DFL Chair Richard Carlbom: Minnesota's Historic DFL Victory Was Built, Not Given
ST. PAUL, Minnesota, Nov. 10 -- Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party issued the following news release:
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November 8, 2026
ICYMI: DFL Chair Richard Carlbom: Minnesota's Historic DFL Victory Was Built, Not Given
ST. PAUL -- In a Star Tribune op-ed published today, Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party Chair Richard Carlbom explains how year-round organizing, community engagement, and listening directly to voters delivered a historic Democratic victory in Minnesota.
As Democrats look for lessons from Tuesday's national Blue Wave, Carlbom offers an inside account of what the ... Show Full Article ST. PAUL, Minnesota, Nov. 10 -- Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party issued the following news release: * * * November 8, 2026 ICYMI: DFL Chair Richard Carlbom: Minnesota's Historic DFL Victory Was Built, Not Given ST. PAUL -- In a Star Tribune op-ed published today, Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party Chair Richard Carlbom explains how year-round organizing, community engagement, and listening directly to voters delivered a historic Democratic victory in Minnesota. As Democrats look for lessons from Tuesday's national Blue Wave, Carlbom offers an inside account of what theDFL built before Election Day. The party invested in organizers earlier than ever and gave Minnesotans new, innovative ways to act on issues affecting their communities and stay involved over time.
"We bet that winning required more than harnessing Minnesotans' frustration with Trump. We needed to turn energy into sustained participation, keeping people engaged not just when headlines were alarming, but throughout the long campaign months," Carlbom writes.
In June 2025, The DFL hired organizers in every congressional district in June 2025. The party trained 10,000 constitutional observers, brought 37,000 people to precinct caucuses, and knocked a record-breaking 2.7 million doors -- building the largest grassroots campaign in DFL history.
Organizing year-round gave the DFL a clearer sense of what Minnesotans wanted from their government. They wanted leaders who would lower costs, protect their freedoms, and treat their neighbors with dignity.
"Our victories weren't inevitable. They resulted from two years of deliberate organizing, extraordinary volunteers, and hardworking candidates," Carlbom writes. "This combination is a way to win elections and a way to move forward."
* * *
Read Chair Carlbom's full op-ed in the Star Tribune: DFL chair: How our strategy won Minnesota (https://www.startribune.com/dfl-chair-how-our-strategy-won-minnesota/601912291?utm_source=gift)
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Original text here: https://dfl.org/icymi-dfl-chair-richard-carlbom-minnesotas-historic-dfl-victory-was-built-not-given/
* * *
November 8, 2026
ICYMI: DFL Chair Richard Carlbom: Minnesota's Historic DFL Victory Was Built, Not Given
ST. PAUL -- In a Star Tribune op-ed published today, Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party Chair Richard Carlbom explains how year-round organizing, community engagement, and listening directly to voters delivered a historic Democratic victory in Minnesota.
As Democrats look for lessons from Tuesday's national Blue Wave, Carlbom offers an inside account of what the ... Show Full Article ST. PAUL, Minnesota, Nov. 10 -- Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party issued the following news release: * * * November 8, 2026 ICYMI: DFL Chair Richard Carlbom: Minnesota's Historic DFL Victory Was Built, Not Given ST. PAUL -- In a Star Tribune op-ed published today, Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party Chair Richard Carlbom explains how year-round organizing, community engagement, and listening directly to voters delivered a historic Democratic victory in Minnesota. As Democrats look for lessons from Tuesday's national Blue Wave, Carlbom offers an inside account of what theDFL built before Election Day. The party invested in organizers earlier than ever and gave Minnesotans new, innovative ways to act on issues affecting their communities and stay involved over time.
"We bet that winning required more than harnessing Minnesotans' frustration with Trump. We needed to turn energy into sustained participation, keeping people engaged not just when headlines were alarming, but throughout the long campaign months," Carlbom writes.
In June 2025, The DFL hired organizers in every congressional district in June 2025. The party trained 10,000 constitutional observers, brought 37,000 people to precinct caucuses, and knocked a record-breaking 2.7 million doors -- building the largest grassroots campaign in DFL history.
Organizing year-round gave the DFL a clearer sense of what Minnesotans wanted from their government. They wanted leaders who would lower costs, protect their freedoms, and treat their neighbors with dignity.
"Our victories weren't inevitable. They resulted from two years of deliberate organizing, extraordinary volunteers, and hardworking candidates," Carlbom writes. "This combination is a way to win elections and a way to move forward."
* * *
Read Chair Carlbom's full op-ed in the Star Tribune: DFL chair: How our strategy won Minnesota (https://www.startribune.com/dfl-chair-how-our-strategy-won-minnesota/601912291?utm_source=gift)
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Original text here: https://dfl.org/icymi-dfl-chair-richard-carlbom-minnesotas-historic-dfl-victory-was-built-not-given/
How We Did It: Nevada Democrats Make History, Sweeping Constitutional Offices and Winning All Four Congressional Districts
LAS VEGAS, Nevada, Nov. 10 -- The Nevada Democratic Party posted the following news release:
* * *
How We Did It: Nevada Democrats Make History, Sweeping Constitutional Offices and Winning All Four Congressional Districts
*
From: Sabrina Maki, Nevada State Democratic Party Executive Director
Date: November 10, 2026
For the first time in several cycles, NV Dems entered a general election without a federal race at the top of the ticket to drive the national investment, resources, and organizing infrastructure that have historically supported Democratic campaigns in the state. Despite that, ... Show Full Article LAS VEGAS, Nevada, Nov. 10 -- The Nevada Democratic Party posted the following news release: * * * How We Did It: Nevada Democrats Make History, Sweeping Constitutional Offices and Winning All Four Congressional Districts * From: Sabrina Maki, Nevada State Democratic Party Executive Director Date: November 10, 2026 For the first time in several cycles, NV Dems entered a general election without a federal race at the top of the ticket to drive the national investment, resources, and organizing infrastructure that have historically supported Democratic campaigns in the state. Despite that,our small and scrappy organization leaned into the strengths of our candidates and partners and found creative ways to reach voters where they are.
Rather than attempting to replicate the scale of previous coordinated campaigns, NV Dems focused on maximizing the resources available, leveraged longstanding partnerships, and built on existing organizing infrastructure across the state. From working alongside organized labor and investing early in partisan voter registration to expanding phone banking, texting, and digital outreach, we found ways to complement existing efforts and fill gaps where additional voter contact was needed. At the center of these efforts were qualified, well-known candidates who had spent years building relationships in their communities, earning voters' trust and giving Nevadans a reason to support them.
Nevada Democrats went on to deliver historic victories in 2026, electing our state's first Black governor and first Black woman to a statewide office, sweeping every constitutional office, and winning all four of the state's congressional districts, including Congressional District 2 for the first time since it was created more than 40 years ago. Our party also secured a supermajority in the Assembly and a majority in the Senate.
These historic results underscore why Nevada is a critical state -- not just in 2026, but in 2028. As national leaders begin campaigning here, the lessons of this cycle are clear: meaningful engagement requires more than a campaign visit. It means building relationships, showing up in communities, and supporting the work already happening on the ground, just as Nevada's candidates and partners have done for years.
Maximized Our Statewide Organizing Efforts
NV Dems took a strategic and resourceful approach to organizing, combining statewide field operations with targeted voter-contact investments to engage communities across all 17 Nevada counties.
Throughout the 2026 cycle, NV Dems:
* Expanded our diverse and multilingual organizing program, with field offices in each congressional district and organizers working in key communities across the state
* Expanded statewide engagement, traveling to all 17 Nevada counties twice and hosting Weekends of Action beginning in June
* Engaged voters through canvassing, phone banking, and texting while providing information about voter registration and participation
* Partnered with the DNC to launch a partisan voter registration program through the When We Count fellowship
* Invested in targeted digital advertising tailored to Nevada's diverse communities, complementing direct voter-contact efforts
* Built a multilingual voter protection program including a hotline and bilingual one stop shop for resources designed to help voters navigate questions and deadlines -- especially given the Trump administration's fixation on Nevada's voting system
Invested in Must-Win Latino Voters
Recognizing the importance of Latino voters to Democratic victories in Nevada, NV Dems made targeted investments in reaching Latino communities, with a particular focus on Latino men.
As Latino men who supported Donald Trump in 2024 began expressing growing dissatisfaction with his administration, NV Dems was already at work to engage these voters directly and make the case for Democratic candidates. Our efforts included weekly Spanish-language phone banks and a dedicated staff for Spanish-language outreach.
Beyond traditional voter contact, NV Dems partnered with longstanding community events like the Cabalgata Horse Parade in East Las Vegas, regularly visited and heard from Latino small businesses in both Las Vegas and Reno, and hosted events with Spanish-speaking surrogates who appealed to and engaged apolitical community members. At these events, our candidates remained laser-focused on the issues that matter to Latino families from addressing the affordability crisis to prioritizing working families to stopping the Trump administration's inhumane immigration enforcement agenda.
Together, these investments reflected a broader commitment to meeting Latino communities where they are, listening to their concerns, and ensuring voter outreach and communications reached Nevadans across languages and communities.
Leaned on Nevada Democrats' Foundational Infrastructure and Partners
Facing a well-funded incumbent governor with unlimited resources, NV Dems leaned into longstanding relationships with organized labor, county parties, clubs and caucuses, and dedicated volunteers to strengthen voter outreach across the state. These partnerships were particularly important in complementing the party's organizing efforts, allowing NV Dems to build on existing field operations, fill gaps in voter contact, and extend its reach into communities across Nevada. By working alongside partners with established infrastructure and deep community relationships, NV Dems helped support a broader, more coordinated effort to engage voters in communities where Democrats have lost ground in other states.
Now, Nevada Democrats Are Ready to Grow This Momentum Ahead of 2028
The 2026 election results highlight what is possible when Democrats invest in a strong statewide organizing operation, compete in every corner of the state, and uplift strong candidates with disciplined campaigns.
With qualified candidates already embedded into communities across our state, NV Dems wrote the playbook for how to win in a critical battleground state and proved that there are no permanently red districts.
As the first true test in the 2028 presidential nominating calendar, Nevada will play a critical role in determining who the Democratic nominee for president will be. Potential candidates now have the playbook and can take these lessons from NV Dems in 2026: when Democrats organize everywhere and uplift strong leaders who give voters a reason to believe in our party, we can win anywhere and everywhere.
***
Original text here: https://nvdems.com/re-how-we-did-it-nevada-democrats-make-history-sweeping-constitutional-offices-and-winning-all-four-congressional-districts/
* * *
How We Did It: Nevada Democrats Make History, Sweeping Constitutional Offices and Winning All Four Congressional Districts
*
From: Sabrina Maki, Nevada State Democratic Party Executive Director
Date: November 10, 2026
For the first time in several cycles, NV Dems entered a general election without a federal race at the top of the ticket to drive the national investment, resources, and organizing infrastructure that have historically supported Democratic campaigns in the state. Despite that, ... Show Full Article LAS VEGAS, Nevada, Nov. 10 -- The Nevada Democratic Party posted the following news release: * * * How We Did It: Nevada Democrats Make History, Sweeping Constitutional Offices and Winning All Four Congressional Districts * From: Sabrina Maki, Nevada State Democratic Party Executive Director Date: November 10, 2026 For the first time in several cycles, NV Dems entered a general election without a federal race at the top of the ticket to drive the national investment, resources, and organizing infrastructure that have historically supported Democratic campaigns in the state. Despite that,our small and scrappy organization leaned into the strengths of our candidates and partners and found creative ways to reach voters where they are.
Rather than attempting to replicate the scale of previous coordinated campaigns, NV Dems focused on maximizing the resources available, leveraged longstanding partnerships, and built on existing organizing infrastructure across the state. From working alongside organized labor and investing early in partisan voter registration to expanding phone banking, texting, and digital outreach, we found ways to complement existing efforts and fill gaps where additional voter contact was needed. At the center of these efforts were qualified, well-known candidates who had spent years building relationships in their communities, earning voters' trust and giving Nevadans a reason to support them.
Nevada Democrats went on to deliver historic victories in 2026, electing our state's first Black governor and first Black woman to a statewide office, sweeping every constitutional office, and winning all four of the state's congressional districts, including Congressional District 2 for the first time since it was created more than 40 years ago. Our party also secured a supermajority in the Assembly and a majority in the Senate.
These historic results underscore why Nevada is a critical state -- not just in 2026, but in 2028. As national leaders begin campaigning here, the lessons of this cycle are clear: meaningful engagement requires more than a campaign visit. It means building relationships, showing up in communities, and supporting the work already happening on the ground, just as Nevada's candidates and partners have done for years.
Maximized Our Statewide Organizing Efforts
NV Dems took a strategic and resourceful approach to organizing, combining statewide field operations with targeted voter-contact investments to engage communities across all 17 Nevada counties.
Throughout the 2026 cycle, NV Dems:
* Expanded our diverse and multilingual organizing program, with field offices in each congressional district and organizers working in key communities across the state
* Expanded statewide engagement, traveling to all 17 Nevada counties twice and hosting Weekends of Action beginning in June
* Engaged voters through canvassing, phone banking, and texting while providing information about voter registration and participation
* Partnered with the DNC to launch a partisan voter registration program through the When We Count fellowship
* Invested in targeted digital advertising tailored to Nevada's diverse communities, complementing direct voter-contact efforts
* Built a multilingual voter protection program including a hotline and bilingual one stop shop for resources designed to help voters navigate questions and deadlines -- especially given the Trump administration's fixation on Nevada's voting system
Invested in Must-Win Latino Voters
Recognizing the importance of Latino voters to Democratic victories in Nevada, NV Dems made targeted investments in reaching Latino communities, with a particular focus on Latino men.
As Latino men who supported Donald Trump in 2024 began expressing growing dissatisfaction with his administration, NV Dems was already at work to engage these voters directly and make the case for Democratic candidates. Our efforts included weekly Spanish-language phone banks and a dedicated staff for Spanish-language outreach.
Beyond traditional voter contact, NV Dems partnered with longstanding community events like the Cabalgata Horse Parade in East Las Vegas, regularly visited and heard from Latino small businesses in both Las Vegas and Reno, and hosted events with Spanish-speaking surrogates who appealed to and engaged apolitical community members. At these events, our candidates remained laser-focused on the issues that matter to Latino families from addressing the affordability crisis to prioritizing working families to stopping the Trump administration's inhumane immigration enforcement agenda.
Together, these investments reflected a broader commitment to meeting Latino communities where they are, listening to their concerns, and ensuring voter outreach and communications reached Nevadans across languages and communities.
Leaned on Nevada Democrats' Foundational Infrastructure and Partners
Facing a well-funded incumbent governor with unlimited resources, NV Dems leaned into longstanding relationships with organized labor, county parties, clubs and caucuses, and dedicated volunteers to strengthen voter outreach across the state. These partnerships were particularly important in complementing the party's organizing efforts, allowing NV Dems to build on existing field operations, fill gaps in voter contact, and extend its reach into communities across Nevada. By working alongside partners with established infrastructure and deep community relationships, NV Dems helped support a broader, more coordinated effort to engage voters in communities where Democrats have lost ground in other states.
Now, Nevada Democrats Are Ready to Grow This Momentum Ahead of 2028
The 2026 election results highlight what is possible when Democrats invest in a strong statewide organizing operation, compete in every corner of the state, and uplift strong candidates with disciplined campaigns.
With qualified candidates already embedded into communities across our state, NV Dems wrote the playbook for how to win in a critical battleground state and proved that there are no permanently red districts.
As the first true test in the 2028 presidential nominating calendar, Nevada will play a critical role in determining who the Democratic nominee for president will be. Potential candidates now have the playbook and can take these lessons from NV Dems in 2026: when Democrats organize everywhere and uplift strong leaders who give voters a reason to believe in our party, we can win anywhere and everywhere.
***
Original text here: https://nvdems.com/re-how-we-did-it-nevada-democrats-make-history-sweeping-constitutional-offices-and-winning-all-four-congressional-districts/
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee: Generational Remake of the Senate Map: How Democrats' "Top-Tier Senate Recruits" and "$550 Million Push" Delivered a "Blowout Midterm Victory"
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release:
* * *
Nov 9, 2026
A GENERATIONAL REMAKE OF THE SENATE MAP: How Democrats' "Top-Tier Senate Recruits" and "$550 Million Push" Delivered a "Blowout Midterm Victory"
The New York Times: "Mr. Schumer and his political team engaged in an all-out, $550-million push to put more Senate seats in play and increase their chances of regaining the majority -- an investment that paid off handsomely"
Washington Post: "Democrats recaptured the Senate on Tuesday despite a daunting map, winning seats in red ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release: * * * Nov 9, 2026 A GENERATIONAL REMAKE OF THE SENATE MAP: How Democrats' "Top-Tier Senate Recruits" and "$550 Million Push" Delivered a "Blowout Midterm Victory" The New York Times: "Mr. Schumer and his political team engaged in an all-out, $550-million push to put more Senate seats in play and increase their chances of regaining the majority -- an investment that paid off handsomely" Washington Post: "Democrats recaptured the Senate on Tuesday despite a daunting map, winning seats in redstates including Texas, Kansas and South Carolina as voters rebelled against Trump"
In a "sweeping electoral victory," Senate Democrats captured "the largest majority they have enjoyed since Barack Obama's presidency" in a "Democratic rout" that was "engineered and funded" by strategic decisions and planning from Senate Democrats. Thanks to the "ambitious Democratic push to compete in races long considered unwinnable," Democrats "painstakingly recruited top-tier Senate candidates" who "could expand the party's map," betting that "strong local candidates could put Republican territory in play."
The "blowout midterm victory" was backed by "an all-out, $550-million push" that "paid off handsomely" - defeating the GOP Slate of "lackluster," "inexperienced," and "scandal-ridden" Senate candidates and delivering "a string of victories in Republican strongholds including Kansas and Texas."
See for yourself:
Reuters:
* Four years after helping Democrats win both US Senate seats in Georgia, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer went looking for a candidate who could expand the party's map.
* He found one in an unlikely place: Mississippi.
* Public prosecutor Scott Colom had seen his path to becoming the state's first Black federal judge in more than a century blocked in 2023 by US Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Mississippi Republican. Now Schumer wanted him to take on Hyde-Smith for her Senate seat. So intent was Schumer to recruit Colom that he invited him and his father to brunch in November 2024.
* "I said you've got to run," he told the news channel MS Now.
* Two years later, Colom will become the first Black senator from Mississippi since post-Civil War Reconstruction if his 2,000-vote lead holds.
* Colom's improbable run was part of an ambitious Democratic push to compete in races long considered unwinnable, betting that rising costs, voter unease with President Donald Trump and strong local candidates could put Republican territory in play.
* The gamble paid off in Tuesday's midterm elections when Democrats seized control of both houses of Congress from Republicans, the result of a string of victories in Republican strongholds including Kansas and Texas.
* In any event, Democratic leaders said they planned to go on pursuing victories in states they had previously written off as guaranteed Republican wins.
* Democrats invested more broadly in party organizations across the country rather than concentrating resources in a handful of traditional battlegrounds.
* Democratic leaders were adamant they not repeat what they saw as the mistake of Trump's first term by running only against him. Instead, they urged candidates to put forward their own proposals and convince voters they could deliver relief.
* One of the Democrats' unlikeliest wins was in Kansas, where Democrats had not notched a US Senate win since 1932. Adam Hamilton, who won on Tuesday, entered the race only in April, and the national party did not focus on his campaign until the closing weeks, campaign adviser Guy Cecil told Reuters.
New York Times:
* Senate Democrats have gained at least seven and potentially nine seats to capture the largest majority they have enjoyed since Barack Obama's presidency.
* Between that implosion in March 2025 and the midterm exuberance, Mr. Schumer and his political team engaged in an all-out, $550-million push to put more Senate seats in play and increase their chances of regaining the majority -- an investment that paid off handsomely.
* But even the stubbornly optimistic Mr. Schumer did not foresee the extent of the Democratic victory or the Republican collapse.
* "I did not," Mr. Schumer said in an interview. "But I was confident we would get it back. My confidence did not waver in that."
* Not everyone had such certainty, given the Senate map for 2026. Democrats began the election cycle with six fewer seats in their caucus than Republicans had. It was a hole that threatened to get deeper.
* Just one Republican seat -- that of five-term incumbent Susan Collins in Maine -- was up for re-election in a state that went for Kamala Harris in the presidential election. And Ms. Collins had proved in previous elections that she would not go easily.
* Mr. Schumer set out to find candidates he believed could be competitive and who matched a winning profile in red states, drawing scorn from progressive activists who said his choices were too old and too moderate. His first target was Roy Cooper, the outgoing Democratic governor of North Carolina. Mr. Schumer said he called him immediately upon the expiration of his term as governor on Jan. 1, 2025.
* Mr. Cooper initially demurred because he was embarking on a fellowship that was to run through May. The Democratic leader marked June 1 on his calendar to pester Mr. Cooper again. In late May, Mr. Cooper called Mr. Schumer instead.
* "He said he was ready to go," Mr. Schumer recounted. It was a critical get. Mr. Cooper won easily in a race that never really seemed in doubt, allowing Democrats to focus time and money elsewhere and giving them one sure pickup to start. And Georgia, the most endangered Democratic seat on paper, fell off the map as Senator Jon Ossoff showed early strength and Republicans there feuded and nominated a weak challenger.
* Next up was Sherrod Brown, the three-term Ohio Democrat who lost in 2024, felled after a barrage of cryptocurrency industry money was spent against him. Mr. Schumer put on the hard sell, visiting the state three times to amiably work over Mr. Brown and his wife, the writer Connie Schultz. His closing message was a guilt trip: "If we lose the Senate by one vote, you and Connie won't enjoy your retirement," Mr. Schumer warned.
* The next day, he was in. Senate Majority PAC, the political action committee allied with Mr. Schumer, spent $150 million helping Mr. Brown to victory.
* Over a series of dinners, Mr. Schumer successfully enticed a strong challenger in Alaska: Mary Peltola, who had won statewide races for the House before being defeated in a re-election campaign. She is ahead of the Republican incumbent senator, Dan Sullivan, in the count there.
* He also encouraged Josh Turek to enter the Senate contest in Iowa, then poured $67 million into his winning race. A veteran Democratic strategist told Mr. Schumer to take a look at Adam Hamilton in Kansas, and he became enamored, and would eventually spend $14 million in the upset win against Senator Roger Marshall.
* And in a race that was seen by many as a pipe dream, Mr. Schumer recruited Scott Colom, a Black prosecutor, to oppose Senator Cindy Hyde Smith, the Republican incumbent, hosting Mr. Colom and his father, a well-known Mississippi Republican, for lunch in Brooklyn. Mr. Colom is slightly ahead in what would be a monumental upset.
* At the same time, Mr. Schumer and Senate Democrats were setting legislative traps on the Senate floor, forcing Republicans to take tough votes on unpopular tariffs and the war with Iran. The second time a spending dispute threatened a shutdown, Mr. Schumer did not hesitate to force one as Democrats dug in against ending subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
* The shutdown eventually ended, but Democrats won individual votes on protecting the health care aid, which Republicans opposed. When the subsidies expired at the end of last year, Mr. Schumer had new fuel for a message that Republicans had ignored rising costs on Americans and made the problem worse.
* Then, after the president initiated the war against Iran, Democrats forced Republicans on the record repeatedly in support of the war and its accompanying increases in fuel and fertilizer prices that were ravaging the economy in agriculture-reliant states. Democrats also resisted Mr. Trump's push to enact a restrictive voting law that they feared would suppress eligible voters inclined to support them.
* The mix of legislative strategy, solid recruitment, missteps by Republicans and a dismal approval rating for Mr. Trump added up to a Democratic rout, marking the third time Mr. Schumer had overseen a successful effort to retake the Senate majority after wins in 2006 and 2020.
* Mr. Schumer said he intends to capitalize on this year's success in Republican-leaning territory to fortify and expand the Democratic electoral presence.
* "We're going to make a durable majority by delivering and by focusing on good Democrats who are now in office in red states," Mr. Schumer said. "I spent decades working to change the Senate map. The election proved we could. Now we have to make sure what we built lasts."
Washington Post:
* Democrats recaptured the Senate on Tuesday despite a daunting map, winning seats in red states including Texas, Kansas and South Carolina as voters rebelled against Trump. Schumer is poised to become majority leader just two years after Democrats lost the Senate -- with a bigger majority than his party has commanded in more than a decade.
* Schumer said every decision he made over the past two years was motivated by recapturing the Senate. He started strategizing how to win back the majority almost as soon as Democrats lost control of the chamber in 2024.
* Schumer called former North Carolina governor Roy Cooper in January 2025 shortly after he left the governor's mansion to try to persuade him to run. He flew to Ohio three times to recruit former Democratic senator Sherrod Brown, telling Brown that he would not enjoy his retirement if Brown did not run and Democrats fell one seat short of retaking the Senate.
* There was widespread skepticism that Democrats could win in states that supported Trump by double-digit margins in 2024. Drew Savicki, an analyst at the Democratic super PAC American Bridge 21st Century, called Schumer "seriously delusional" last year for believing Democrats could win in Mississippi.
* American Bridge, which hired Savicki after his comments, started running ads in August supporting Colom and spent $2.1 million in the race, according to Pat Dennis, the super PAC's president.
* "I have never been happier to be wrong about something," Savicki wrote on Wednesday.
* Even Schumer did not expect the scale of Democrats' victories on Tuesday, which extended far beyond the Senate. Democrats won a commanding House majority and victories in statehouses across the country.
* Cooper won by 20 points -- an enormous margin in a swing state. Democrats could hold as many as 56 Senate seats next year if they win races in Alaska and Mississippi that remain too close to call.
* Schumer described Democrats' victories as "a generational remake of the Senate map" -- and he is already thinking about what it means for 2028, when he wants to expand Democrats' majority even further. Republican senators are up for reelection in 2028 in several states where Democrats won this year, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas and Iowa.
* Schumer helped elect the freshmen who have not committed to supporting him. Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC aligned with Schumer, and its affiliates spent hundreds of millions of dollars to aid El-Sayed and other incoming Democratic senators.
New York Times:
* Democrats stormed to a huge House majority and won control of the Senate, a remarkable feat powered by victories in Republican strongholds -- Kansas, South Carolina, Texas -- that few could have imagined a year ago.
* The scale of the defeat was far from inevitable.
* Republicans had record fund-raising, the world's richest man, a favorable Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance and a demoralized, unpopular opposition.
* In the Senate, they had a map that required Democrats to compete in states they hadn't won in decades.
* The results on Tuesday [are] shaping up to be the worst loss in a half-century, since the aftermath of the Watergate scandal.
* While Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, painstakingly recruited top-tier Senate candidates, Mr. Trump took a series of steps that endangered the Republican majority.
* After Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa flirted with opposing Mr. Trump's most controversial nominees and Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina voted against his signature tax-and-spending bill, Mr. Trump's allies threatened to end their careers. Both decided to retire, creating vulnerable open seats that had been held by Republicans.
* In North Carolina, Mr. Trump cleared the field for Michael Whatley, a former lobbyist and Republican National Committee chairman, who proved a lackluster candidate and lost to Roy Cooper, the state's popular Democratic former governor.
* After Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina died in July, Mr. Trump supported tapping his sister, Darline, to not just replace him temporarily but also to run for a full six-year term. In doing so, he elevated an inexperienced candidate with no fund-raising base, and she went on to lose in a state that had not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1998.
* But no candidate proved more costly to the party than Ken Paxton, the scandal-ridden Texas attorney general. Mr. Trump endorsed him over Senator John Cornyn, the Republican incumbent, ignoring a year of warnings that Mr. Paxton would put the seat in jeopardy. Republicans were ultimately forced to spend close to $300 million in Texas -- money that could have gone to shore up candidates in other states. Mr. Paxton lost by 12 points.
* In May 2025, Mr. Schumer arrived at Wildflower Farms, an upscale resort in New York's Hudson Valley, for a secretive retreat with donors and party officials. He desperately needed to expand the Senate map.
* At the Wildflower retreat, James Talarico, a youthful-looking state legislator in Texas, had delivered a five-minute speech for the assembled crowd on the importance of storytelling in campaigns. Mr. Schumer was smitten. He told at least two attendees afterward that he wanted to get Mr. Talarico to run for the Senate.
* To win control of the Senate, Democrats needed to hold all of their seats and flip at least four, including in states that Mr. Trump won handily in 2024.
* Mr. Schumer spent months wooing Mr. Cooper and took at least three trips to Ohio to coax former Senator Sherrod Brown, who had lost in 2024 but had a populist brand that matched the country's mood.
* "If you retire and we lose the majority by one vote, you won't enjoy your retirement," Mr. Schumer recalled telling Mr. Brown, 73.
* Both ran and won.
* Mr. Trump never stopped raising money after the 2024 election, assembling a roughly $400 million war chest that he made clear to advisers he saw as "my money."
* By August, with the election less than 100 days away, Republican Senate strategists still had no clarity on where Team Trump would spend. One described being "shocked at how ill-prepared they were."
* The delay was costly: Ad prices soar as elections near.
* One week in mid-October on a single station in Anchorage, the Trump super PAC paid nearly four times as much money as the leading Democratic super PAC did to air roughly 70 percent fewer commercials because it had not reserved the time well in advance.
* The Democratic group paid $2,700 for a commercial on the local evening news; Mr. Trump's super PAC paid $30,000 for the same slot.
* Mr. Musk would spend more than $450 million to aid Republicans in the midterms, much of it in Texas to try to save Mr. Paxton. The super PAC he funded spent tens of millions on ads attacking the Democratic nominee, Mr. Talarico
* The fight to save the Senate was hampered by party leadership that could barely work together. Mr. Trump and Senate G.O.P. leaders, Mr. Thune among them, never grew close. The president endorsed Mr. Paxton over their objections. And when Trump advisers met with officials from the top Republican super PAC at Camp David in March 2026 to plan for the midterms, no one from the National Republican Senatorial Committee was invited.
* In the Senate, it got so bad for the G.O.P. that by early October Republicans were ordering up polls in seemingly unthinkable states, like South Dakota and Idaho.
* A month before the election, the Senate Leadership Fund pulled ads from North Carolina, ceding the state to redirect money to Kansas, then South Carolina and eventually Mississippi -- a state Mr. Trump had carried by nearly 23 points two years ago.
* "Battleground Mississippi," Mr. Trump's advisers called it mockingly on a call.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.dscc.org/article/a-generational-remake-of-the-senate-map-how-democrats-top-tier-senate-recruits-and-550-million-push-delivered-a-blowout-midterm-victory/
* * *
Nov 9, 2026
A GENERATIONAL REMAKE OF THE SENATE MAP: How Democrats' "Top-Tier Senate Recruits" and "$550 Million Push" Delivered a "Blowout Midterm Victory"
The New York Times: "Mr. Schumer and his political team engaged in an all-out, $550-million push to put more Senate seats in play and increase their chances of regaining the majority -- an investment that paid off handsomely"
Washington Post: "Democrats recaptured the Senate on Tuesday despite a daunting map, winning seats in red ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release: * * * Nov 9, 2026 A GENERATIONAL REMAKE OF THE SENATE MAP: How Democrats' "Top-Tier Senate Recruits" and "$550 Million Push" Delivered a "Blowout Midterm Victory" The New York Times: "Mr. Schumer and his political team engaged in an all-out, $550-million push to put more Senate seats in play and increase their chances of regaining the majority -- an investment that paid off handsomely" Washington Post: "Democrats recaptured the Senate on Tuesday despite a daunting map, winning seats in redstates including Texas, Kansas and South Carolina as voters rebelled against Trump"
In a "sweeping electoral victory," Senate Democrats captured "the largest majority they have enjoyed since Barack Obama's presidency" in a "Democratic rout" that was "engineered and funded" by strategic decisions and planning from Senate Democrats. Thanks to the "ambitious Democratic push to compete in races long considered unwinnable," Democrats "painstakingly recruited top-tier Senate candidates" who "could expand the party's map," betting that "strong local candidates could put Republican territory in play."
The "blowout midterm victory" was backed by "an all-out, $550-million push" that "paid off handsomely" - defeating the GOP Slate of "lackluster," "inexperienced," and "scandal-ridden" Senate candidates and delivering "a string of victories in Republican strongholds including Kansas and Texas."
See for yourself:
Reuters:
* Four years after helping Democrats win both US Senate seats in Georgia, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer went looking for a candidate who could expand the party's map.
* He found one in an unlikely place: Mississippi.
* Public prosecutor Scott Colom had seen his path to becoming the state's first Black federal judge in more than a century blocked in 2023 by US Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Mississippi Republican. Now Schumer wanted him to take on Hyde-Smith for her Senate seat. So intent was Schumer to recruit Colom that he invited him and his father to brunch in November 2024.
* "I said you've got to run," he told the news channel MS Now.
* Two years later, Colom will become the first Black senator from Mississippi since post-Civil War Reconstruction if his 2,000-vote lead holds.
* Colom's improbable run was part of an ambitious Democratic push to compete in races long considered unwinnable, betting that rising costs, voter unease with President Donald Trump and strong local candidates could put Republican territory in play.
* The gamble paid off in Tuesday's midterm elections when Democrats seized control of both houses of Congress from Republicans, the result of a string of victories in Republican strongholds including Kansas and Texas.
* In any event, Democratic leaders said they planned to go on pursuing victories in states they had previously written off as guaranteed Republican wins.
* Democrats invested more broadly in party organizations across the country rather than concentrating resources in a handful of traditional battlegrounds.
* Democratic leaders were adamant they not repeat what they saw as the mistake of Trump's first term by running only against him. Instead, they urged candidates to put forward their own proposals and convince voters they could deliver relief.
* One of the Democrats' unlikeliest wins was in Kansas, where Democrats had not notched a US Senate win since 1932. Adam Hamilton, who won on Tuesday, entered the race only in April, and the national party did not focus on his campaign until the closing weeks, campaign adviser Guy Cecil told Reuters.
New York Times:
* Senate Democrats have gained at least seven and potentially nine seats to capture the largest majority they have enjoyed since Barack Obama's presidency.
* Between that implosion in March 2025 and the midterm exuberance, Mr. Schumer and his political team engaged in an all-out, $550-million push to put more Senate seats in play and increase their chances of regaining the majority -- an investment that paid off handsomely.
* But even the stubbornly optimistic Mr. Schumer did not foresee the extent of the Democratic victory or the Republican collapse.
* "I did not," Mr. Schumer said in an interview. "But I was confident we would get it back. My confidence did not waver in that."
* Not everyone had such certainty, given the Senate map for 2026. Democrats began the election cycle with six fewer seats in their caucus than Republicans had. It was a hole that threatened to get deeper.
* Just one Republican seat -- that of five-term incumbent Susan Collins in Maine -- was up for re-election in a state that went for Kamala Harris in the presidential election. And Ms. Collins had proved in previous elections that she would not go easily.
* Mr. Schumer set out to find candidates he believed could be competitive and who matched a winning profile in red states, drawing scorn from progressive activists who said his choices were too old and too moderate. His first target was Roy Cooper, the outgoing Democratic governor of North Carolina. Mr. Schumer said he called him immediately upon the expiration of his term as governor on Jan. 1, 2025.
* Mr. Cooper initially demurred because he was embarking on a fellowship that was to run through May. The Democratic leader marked June 1 on his calendar to pester Mr. Cooper again. In late May, Mr. Cooper called Mr. Schumer instead.
* "He said he was ready to go," Mr. Schumer recounted. It was a critical get. Mr. Cooper won easily in a race that never really seemed in doubt, allowing Democrats to focus time and money elsewhere and giving them one sure pickup to start. And Georgia, the most endangered Democratic seat on paper, fell off the map as Senator Jon Ossoff showed early strength and Republicans there feuded and nominated a weak challenger.
* Next up was Sherrod Brown, the three-term Ohio Democrat who lost in 2024, felled after a barrage of cryptocurrency industry money was spent against him. Mr. Schumer put on the hard sell, visiting the state three times to amiably work over Mr. Brown and his wife, the writer Connie Schultz. His closing message was a guilt trip: "If we lose the Senate by one vote, you and Connie won't enjoy your retirement," Mr. Schumer warned.
* The next day, he was in. Senate Majority PAC, the political action committee allied with Mr. Schumer, spent $150 million helping Mr. Brown to victory.
* Over a series of dinners, Mr. Schumer successfully enticed a strong challenger in Alaska: Mary Peltola, who had won statewide races for the House before being defeated in a re-election campaign. She is ahead of the Republican incumbent senator, Dan Sullivan, in the count there.
* He also encouraged Josh Turek to enter the Senate contest in Iowa, then poured $67 million into his winning race. A veteran Democratic strategist told Mr. Schumer to take a look at Adam Hamilton in Kansas, and he became enamored, and would eventually spend $14 million in the upset win against Senator Roger Marshall.
* And in a race that was seen by many as a pipe dream, Mr. Schumer recruited Scott Colom, a Black prosecutor, to oppose Senator Cindy Hyde Smith, the Republican incumbent, hosting Mr. Colom and his father, a well-known Mississippi Republican, for lunch in Brooklyn. Mr. Colom is slightly ahead in what would be a monumental upset.
* At the same time, Mr. Schumer and Senate Democrats were setting legislative traps on the Senate floor, forcing Republicans to take tough votes on unpopular tariffs and the war with Iran. The second time a spending dispute threatened a shutdown, Mr. Schumer did not hesitate to force one as Democrats dug in against ending subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
* The shutdown eventually ended, but Democrats won individual votes on protecting the health care aid, which Republicans opposed. When the subsidies expired at the end of last year, Mr. Schumer had new fuel for a message that Republicans had ignored rising costs on Americans and made the problem worse.
* Then, after the president initiated the war against Iran, Democrats forced Republicans on the record repeatedly in support of the war and its accompanying increases in fuel and fertilizer prices that were ravaging the economy in agriculture-reliant states. Democrats also resisted Mr. Trump's push to enact a restrictive voting law that they feared would suppress eligible voters inclined to support them.
* The mix of legislative strategy, solid recruitment, missteps by Republicans and a dismal approval rating for Mr. Trump added up to a Democratic rout, marking the third time Mr. Schumer had overseen a successful effort to retake the Senate majority after wins in 2006 and 2020.
* Mr. Schumer said he intends to capitalize on this year's success in Republican-leaning territory to fortify and expand the Democratic electoral presence.
* "We're going to make a durable majority by delivering and by focusing on good Democrats who are now in office in red states," Mr. Schumer said. "I spent decades working to change the Senate map. The election proved we could. Now we have to make sure what we built lasts."
Washington Post:
* Democrats recaptured the Senate on Tuesday despite a daunting map, winning seats in red states including Texas, Kansas and South Carolina as voters rebelled against Trump. Schumer is poised to become majority leader just two years after Democrats lost the Senate -- with a bigger majority than his party has commanded in more than a decade.
* Schumer said every decision he made over the past two years was motivated by recapturing the Senate. He started strategizing how to win back the majority almost as soon as Democrats lost control of the chamber in 2024.
* Schumer called former North Carolina governor Roy Cooper in January 2025 shortly after he left the governor's mansion to try to persuade him to run. He flew to Ohio three times to recruit former Democratic senator Sherrod Brown, telling Brown that he would not enjoy his retirement if Brown did not run and Democrats fell one seat short of retaking the Senate.
* There was widespread skepticism that Democrats could win in states that supported Trump by double-digit margins in 2024. Drew Savicki, an analyst at the Democratic super PAC American Bridge 21st Century, called Schumer "seriously delusional" last year for believing Democrats could win in Mississippi.
* American Bridge, which hired Savicki after his comments, started running ads in August supporting Colom and spent $2.1 million in the race, according to Pat Dennis, the super PAC's president.
* "I have never been happier to be wrong about something," Savicki wrote on Wednesday.
* Even Schumer did not expect the scale of Democrats' victories on Tuesday, which extended far beyond the Senate. Democrats won a commanding House majority and victories in statehouses across the country.
* Cooper won by 20 points -- an enormous margin in a swing state. Democrats could hold as many as 56 Senate seats next year if they win races in Alaska and Mississippi that remain too close to call.
* Schumer described Democrats' victories as "a generational remake of the Senate map" -- and he is already thinking about what it means for 2028, when he wants to expand Democrats' majority even further. Republican senators are up for reelection in 2028 in several states where Democrats won this year, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas and Iowa.
* Schumer helped elect the freshmen who have not committed to supporting him. Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC aligned with Schumer, and its affiliates spent hundreds of millions of dollars to aid El-Sayed and other incoming Democratic senators.
New York Times:
* Democrats stormed to a huge House majority and won control of the Senate, a remarkable feat powered by victories in Republican strongholds -- Kansas, South Carolina, Texas -- that few could have imagined a year ago.
* The scale of the defeat was far from inevitable.
* Republicans had record fund-raising, the world's richest man, a favorable Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance and a demoralized, unpopular opposition.
* In the Senate, they had a map that required Democrats to compete in states they hadn't won in decades.
* The results on Tuesday [are] shaping up to be the worst loss in a half-century, since the aftermath of the Watergate scandal.
* While Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, painstakingly recruited top-tier Senate candidates, Mr. Trump took a series of steps that endangered the Republican majority.
* After Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa flirted with opposing Mr. Trump's most controversial nominees and Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina voted against his signature tax-and-spending bill, Mr. Trump's allies threatened to end their careers. Both decided to retire, creating vulnerable open seats that had been held by Republicans.
* In North Carolina, Mr. Trump cleared the field for Michael Whatley, a former lobbyist and Republican National Committee chairman, who proved a lackluster candidate and lost to Roy Cooper, the state's popular Democratic former governor.
* After Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina died in July, Mr. Trump supported tapping his sister, Darline, to not just replace him temporarily but also to run for a full six-year term. In doing so, he elevated an inexperienced candidate with no fund-raising base, and she went on to lose in a state that had not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1998.
* But no candidate proved more costly to the party than Ken Paxton, the scandal-ridden Texas attorney general. Mr. Trump endorsed him over Senator John Cornyn, the Republican incumbent, ignoring a year of warnings that Mr. Paxton would put the seat in jeopardy. Republicans were ultimately forced to spend close to $300 million in Texas -- money that could have gone to shore up candidates in other states. Mr. Paxton lost by 12 points.
* In May 2025, Mr. Schumer arrived at Wildflower Farms, an upscale resort in New York's Hudson Valley, for a secretive retreat with donors and party officials. He desperately needed to expand the Senate map.
* At the Wildflower retreat, James Talarico, a youthful-looking state legislator in Texas, had delivered a five-minute speech for the assembled crowd on the importance of storytelling in campaigns. Mr. Schumer was smitten. He told at least two attendees afterward that he wanted to get Mr. Talarico to run for the Senate.
* To win control of the Senate, Democrats needed to hold all of their seats and flip at least four, including in states that Mr. Trump won handily in 2024.
* Mr. Schumer spent months wooing Mr. Cooper and took at least three trips to Ohio to coax former Senator Sherrod Brown, who had lost in 2024 but had a populist brand that matched the country's mood.
* "If you retire and we lose the majority by one vote, you won't enjoy your retirement," Mr. Schumer recalled telling Mr. Brown, 73.
* Both ran and won.
* Mr. Trump never stopped raising money after the 2024 election, assembling a roughly $400 million war chest that he made clear to advisers he saw as "my money."
* By August, with the election less than 100 days away, Republican Senate strategists still had no clarity on where Team Trump would spend. One described being "shocked at how ill-prepared they were."
* The delay was costly: Ad prices soar as elections near.
* One week in mid-October on a single station in Anchorage, the Trump super PAC paid nearly four times as much money as the leading Democratic super PAC did to air roughly 70 percent fewer commercials because it had not reserved the time well in advance.
* The Democratic group paid $2,700 for a commercial on the local evening news; Mr. Trump's super PAC paid $30,000 for the same slot.
* Mr. Musk would spend more than $450 million to aid Republicans in the midterms, much of it in Texas to try to save Mr. Paxton. The super PAC he funded spent tens of millions on ads attacking the Democratic nominee, Mr. Talarico
* The fight to save the Senate was hampered by party leadership that could barely work together. Mr. Trump and Senate G.O.P. leaders, Mr. Thune among them, never grew close. The president endorsed Mr. Paxton over their objections. And when Trump advisers met with officials from the top Republican super PAC at Camp David in March 2026 to plan for the midterms, no one from the National Republican Senatorial Committee was invited.
* In the Senate, it got so bad for the G.O.P. that by early October Republicans were ordering up polls in seemingly unthinkable states, like South Dakota and Idaho.
* A month before the election, the Senate Leadership Fund pulled ads from North Carolina, ceding the state to redirect money to Kansas, then South Carolina and eventually Mississippi -- a state Mr. Trump had carried by nearly 23 points two years ago.
* "Battleground Mississippi," Mr. Trump's advisers called it mockingly on a call.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.dscc.org/article/a-generational-remake-of-the-senate-map-how-democrats-top-tier-senate-recruits-and-550-million-push-delivered-a-blowout-midterm-victory/
DGA in National Journal: 30 Democratic Governors "Didn't Happen Overnight"
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 -- The Democratic Governors Association posted the following news:
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DGA in National Journal: 30 Democratic Governors "Didn't Happen Overnight"
Nov 09, 2026
DGA's historic results took a decade of strategizing and investing where it mattered
-
Last week, Democrats won a majority of governorships for the first time since 2010, as the country is set to have 30 Democratic governors - the most in 30 years.
The DGA's Executive Director Meghan Meehan-Draper sat down with National Journal to talk about how the DGA has been building toward this moment and refining our ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 -- The Democratic Governors Association posted the following news: * * * DGA in National Journal: 30 Democratic Governors "Didn't Happen Overnight" Nov 09, 2026 DGA's historic results took a decade of strategizing and investing where it mattered - Last week, Democrats won a majority of governorships for the first time since 2010, as the country is set to have 30 Democratic governors - the most in 30 years. The DGA's Executive Director Meghan Meehan-Draper sat down with National Journal to talk about how the DGA has been building toward this moment and refining ourstrategy for a decade, saying: "The DGA's work to build democratic governing power in the states over the last decade has been foundational for truly what's a generational shift in power that we achieved this year."
USA Today also highlighted how Democratic governors will have "sweeping power" across the country, with The Long Run writing "The results are a huge victory for the Democratic Governors Association, which came into the cycle with the once-ambitious task of winning an overall majority."
Read more about the DGA's decade-long road to a majority of governors:
National Journal: Q&A with Meghan Meehan-Draper
* Meghan Meehan-Draper: "It is thrilling to have 30 Democratic governors in America. It's surreal, and it didn't happen overnight. The DGA's work to build democratic governing power in the states over the last decade has been foundational for truly what's a generational shift in power that we achieved this year."
* "For the last decade, the DGA has honestly led the charge with super smart strategic investments in red states. There are governors' races every year, so we're forced to learn lessons. We're forced to refine our tactics. We have no off years. We have to keep raising money all the time, and we've been relentlessly focused on having a comeback. When I became executive director in 2023, I said I want my goal to be 26 by 2026. I want the majority of states, and so to not only have hit 26 but exceed it to hit 30 has been incredibly gratifying, but also a long, long, long work in progress."
* "These candidates who flipped these states didn't just win because it was a good year for Democrats. They had great campaigns, flawless campaigns, frankly, and great candidates who were able to seize this moment."
* "Electing Democratic governors also has massive implications for the future of democracy and future of the party. Democratic governors build strong state parties in their states. They do things like overseeing consequential redistricting maps. They do things that people don't think about, like appointing thousands of judicial appointments all over the country, which becomes a pipeline for the federal judiciary."
* "With the right candidate, voters are completely open to supporting a Democrat, even if they are not a Democrat. I think we frankly saw the same thing in a place like Georgia, where voters were very, very open to electing their first Black woman governor because they knew that she was going to deliver for Georgia."
USA Today: Democrats grab sweeping power in governor's offices, state houses
* "We are about to have 30 Democratic governors in this country who will govern 75% of the population," Meghan Meehan-Draper, the executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, told USA TODAY.
* "There is sweeping power that governors have that people just don't think about," Meehan-Draper said. She pointed to the power governors wield over redrawing congressional maps, appointing judges to state courts, building up the Democratic bench for higher office and implementing federal policy.
The Long Run: The Promise - and Problem - of Democrats' New Era
* Democrats appear to have flipped six governorships and held all 18 of their own, exceeding even the wildest hopes of party officials a few months ago. The results are a huge victory for the Democratic Governors Association, which came into the cycle with the once-ambitious task of winning an overall majority. And they epitomize the promising, though potentially challenging, position Democrats now find themselves in as America's newly dominant political party.
* "From the DGA perspective, we did not get here overnight," said Sam Newton, communications director for the group. "It took a lot of hard work and focus on these races for governor and state-level races, which often have less attention, less money, and worked really hard every single year to flip states, protect the tough ones, and make gains."
* It's been a long road for the group. After suffering repeated defeats during the Obama midterm cycles, Democratic governors hit rock bottom in early 2017, when newly elected West Virginia governor (and now senator) Jim Justice switched parties. That created a split of 34 Republicans, 15 Democrats, and one Independent, a wider gap than any seen in nearly 100 years.
* Nearly a decade later, the landscape is radically different: three out of every four Americans will live under a Democratic governor next year.
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Original text here: https://democraticgovernors.org/updates/dga-in-national-journal-30-democratic-governors-didnt-happen-overnight/
* * *
DGA in National Journal: 30 Democratic Governors "Didn't Happen Overnight"
Nov 09, 2026
DGA's historic results took a decade of strategizing and investing where it mattered
-
Last week, Democrats won a majority of governorships for the first time since 2010, as the country is set to have 30 Democratic governors - the most in 30 years.
The DGA's Executive Director Meghan Meehan-Draper sat down with National Journal to talk about how the DGA has been building toward this moment and refining our ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 -- The Democratic Governors Association posted the following news: * * * DGA in National Journal: 30 Democratic Governors "Didn't Happen Overnight" Nov 09, 2026 DGA's historic results took a decade of strategizing and investing where it mattered - Last week, Democrats won a majority of governorships for the first time since 2010, as the country is set to have 30 Democratic governors - the most in 30 years. The DGA's Executive Director Meghan Meehan-Draper sat down with National Journal to talk about how the DGA has been building toward this moment and refining ourstrategy for a decade, saying: "The DGA's work to build democratic governing power in the states over the last decade has been foundational for truly what's a generational shift in power that we achieved this year."
USA Today also highlighted how Democratic governors will have "sweeping power" across the country, with The Long Run writing "The results are a huge victory for the Democratic Governors Association, which came into the cycle with the once-ambitious task of winning an overall majority."
Read more about the DGA's decade-long road to a majority of governors:
National Journal: Q&A with Meghan Meehan-Draper
* Meghan Meehan-Draper: "It is thrilling to have 30 Democratic governors in America. It's surreal, and it didn't happen overnight. The DGA's work to build democratic governing power in the states over the last decade has been foundational for truly what's a generational shift in power that we achieved this year."
* "For the last decade, the DGA has honestly led the charge with super smart strategic investments in red states. There are governors' races every year, so we're forced to learn lessons. We're forced to refine our tactics. We have no off years. We have to keep raising money all the time, and we've been relentlessly focused on having a comeback. When I became executive director in 2023, I said I want my goal to be 26 by 2026. I want the majority of states, and so to not only have hit 26 but exceed it to hit 30 has been incredibly gratifying, but also a long, long, long work in progress."
* "These candidates who flipped these states didn't just win because it was a good year for Democrats. They had great campaigns, flawless campaigns, frankly, and great candidates who were able to seize this moment."
* "Electing Democratic governors also has massive implications for the future of democracy and future of the party. Democratic governors build strong state parties in their states. They do things like overseeing consequential redistricting maps. They do things that people don't think about, like appointing thousands of judicial appointments all over the country, which becomes a pipeline for the federal judiciary."
* "With the right candidate, voters are completely open to supporting a Democrat, even if they are not a Democrat. I think we frankly saw the same thing in a place like Georgia, where voters were very, very open to electing their first Black woman governor because they knew that she was going to deliver for Georgia."
USA Today: Democrats grab sweeping power in governor's offices, state houses
* "We are about to have 30 Democratic governors in this country who will govern 75% of the population," Meghan Meehan-Draper, the executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, told USA TODAY.
* "There is sweeping power that governors have that people just don't think about," Meehan-Draper said. She pointed to the power governors wield over redrawing congressional maps, appointing judges to state courts, building up the Democratic bench for higher office and implementing federal policy.
The Long Run: The Promise - and Problem - of Democrats' New Era
* Democrats appear to have flipped six governorships and held all 18 of their own, exceeding even the wildest hopes of party officials a few months ago. The results are a huge victory for the Democratic Governors Association, which came into the cycle with the once-ambitious task of winning an overall majority. And they epitomize the promising, though potentially challenging, position Democrats now find themselves in as America's newly dominant political party.
* "From the DGA perspective, we did not get here overnight," said Sam Newton, communications director for the group. "It took a lot of hard work and focus on these races for governor and state-level races, which often have less attention, less money, and worked really hard every single year to flip states, protect the tough ones, and make gains."
* It's been a long road for the group. After suffering repeated defeats during the Obama midterm cycles, Democratic governors hit rock bottom in early 2017, when newly elected West Virginia governor (and now senator) Jim Justice switched parties. That created a split of 34 Republicans, 15 Democrats, and one Independent, a wider gap than any seen in nearly 100 years.
* Nearly a decade later, the landscape is radically different: three out of every four Americans will live under a Democratic governor next year.
* * *
Original text here: https://democraticgovernors.org/updates/dga-in-national-journal-30-democratic-governors-didnt-happen-overnight/