Democratic governors say the party's midterm strategy must focus on
voters' pocketbook concerns
[December 08, 2025]
By JONATHAN J. COOPER
PHOENIX (AP) — Democratic governors met this weekend in Arizona, looking
to parlay last month’s big victories for the party in New Jersey and
Virginia into campaigns for next year’s midterms, when a majority of
governor's seats will be up for election.
Those elections helped Democrats zero in on what they see as a strategy
to help grow their ranks in office and recover from big losses in 2024,
when voters put Donald Trump back in the White House and gave
Republicans majorities in both houses of Congress.
The plan is to focus intently on making life more affordable, a message
they hope will work even in some conservative-leaning states.
“We have to be laser focused on people’s everyday concerns and how hard
life is right now for the American people,” said Kentucky Gov. Andy
Beshear, the new chairman of the Democratic Governors Association and a
possible candidate for president in 2028. “Everybody wants the economy
of tomorrow, but paying the bills today is absolutely critical."
He and other governors said Democrats can use the affordability message
as a cudgel against Trump without making him the central focus of their
campaigns.
“Yes, we can judge a president, and we should judge this president,”
Beshear said. "But we never judge those voters.”
Democrats hone in on costs
The meeting of Democratic governors comes as blue states have been under
fire from the Trump administration, which is exercising power in novel
ways against the president's perceived enemies.
Trump has deployed the National Guard in California, Oregon and Illinois
over the objections of their Democratic governors. His administration
has demanded detailed voter data and threatened to cut off food
assistance for states that don't provide information to support his
immigration crackdown.
Heading into a primary season in which factions will battle over the
future of the party, Democratic governors largely sang from the same
sheet over the weekend. A dozen candidates and sitting governors all
said they plan to talk extensively about the costs of housing, child
care, utilities and groceries during Trump's second term.
But the unified focus on affordability papers over real divisions in the
party’s ranks over how aggressively to confront Trump, who won all of
the presidential battleground states last year, and how to deal with the
rising costs that are squeezing Americans.
On the same day Democratic moderates with national security credentials,
Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, won
their governor's races, Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani won election
as New York mayor. All ran on promises to tackle affordability, but they
offered very different visions for how to deliver.
The affordability strategy isn’t without risk. Economic conditions could
change, making concerns about prices less salient or urgent.
And Democrats could be setting themselves up for disappointment down the
road if they win in 2026 but are unable to bring down costs to voters’
satisfaction, allowing Republicans to capitalize on the same buyer’s
remorse Democrats are now seeking to stoke.
For Democratic incumbents seeking reelection, they can't rest on
fighting the Trump administration, said two-term Democratic Gov.
Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico. They need to show results.
“Deliver for me. But don’t forget to fight this,” said Lujan Grisham,
who is barred by term limits from seeking reelection. “They do want
both, and finding ways to cross-cut those and marry that I think is
going to be a winning set of messages.”
Affordability also becomes a focal point for Trump
After the New Jersey and Virginia elections last month, the White House
began shifting its message to focus more on affordability. Trump, who
has not done much domestic travel during his second term, is scheduled
to visit Pennsylvania on Tuesday to highlight his efforts to reduce
inflation.
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New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham discusses efforts by the
state to temporarily backfill food assistance benefits during a news
conference outside a grocery store in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Oct.
29, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan, File)
The president has talked more about affordability recently, and he
reduced tariffs on beef and other commodities that consumers say
cost too much. But Trump also has said the economy is better and
consumer prices lower than reported by the media.
“The word affordability is a Democrat scam,” he said during a
Cabinet meeting last week.
He continues to blame his Democratic predecessor, former President
Joe Biden, for the increase nationwide in inflation rates that
occurred this year after his return to the White House. Overall,
inflation is tracking at 3% annually, up from 2.3% in April when
Trump rolled out a sweeping set of import taxes.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday said the administration
will be intent on reducing inflation, after tackling immigration and
pushing to have interest rates cut.
“I expect inflation to roll down strongly next year,” he said on
CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Democratic governors and candidates were largely aligned in the
conclusion that many voters in 2024 didn't feel as if their party
was focused on their concerns or shared their anger at a system they
believe is failing average Americans.
“I think if there was any failure in the presidential election, it’s
we forgot what real people care about,” said Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek,
who is expected to seek a second term next year.
“We've got to listen to people,” said Keisha Lance Bottoms, the
former mayor of Atlanta who is running for Georgia governor.
Democrats believe some red states could be in play
Once Spanberger takes office in January, Democrats will control 24
governor's offices, a significant improvement from the low point of
just 16 following the 2016 election but still slightly behind the
Republicans' 26 seats.
Thirty-six states will hold elections for governor next year.
Among the hardest-fought contests will be in swing states that
flipped between supporting Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2024. Those
include Arizona, where Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is seeking a
second term, and Nevada, where Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo is up
for reelection. Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia all have open seats
that are widely expected to attract a large field of candidates and
big spending.
The retirement of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly in Kansas, an
overwhelmingly Republican state in presidential contests, gives the
GOP the upper hand there. But Democrats are talking about expanding
the field by competing in states such as Iowa or Ohio, where the
party used to be competitive but has struggled in the Trump era.
Gina Hinojosa, a Texas lawmaker running for governor in the nation's
second-most populous state, is making the case to Democratic donors
that investing in Texas will be crucial to her party's hopes of
winning power in Washington before the 2030 census. Her state is
projected to pick up at least four House seats and Electoral College
votes at the expense of blue states such as California and Illinois.
“If we don’t flip before the end of the decade, there won’t be
Democratic control of Congress or the White House,” Hinojosa said.
“Because the math doesn’t work.”
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