Two years after their 2024 loss, Democrats understand the assignment. They’re focused, honing in on one issue important to voters ahead of the 2026 election: affordability.
Take it from Debbie Cox Bultan, CEO of NewDEAL, a national network whose goal is to elevate pragmatic, results-driven center-left state and local leaders. May 4 and 5, NewDEAL leaders across the country gathered in Raleigh to discuss how to not only sell their message to voters in the upcoming election, but maintain Democratic momentum afterwards.
Democrats have a simple campaign message: Grocery prices are up. Utility bills are rising. Childcare and healthcare costs are pushing household budgets to the brink. There’s an overall sense that everything is more expensive. Republicans are in charge, and their campaign promises to lower costs haven’t come to fruition, so, Democrats will argue, voters should fire them.
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That messaging is likely to be enough for a “blue wave” this November, they think. Democrats can point fingers, tying President Donald Trump’s tariff policy and Iran War to rising costs. On a state level, North Carolina Democrats can blame state Republicans for not passing a comprehensive budget, leaving projects unfunded and teachers, law enforcement and state employees without pay adjustments.
However, Democratic leaders cannot rest on their laurels, Bultan told Carolina Public Press.
“A shift is happening, which is great to see,” she said. “The way we make it last is to deliver.”
At the NewDEAL Ideas Summit in Raleigh, Democratic leaders shared concrete policy ideas and governing strategies to make that happen.
How Democrats are selling themselves to voters
It sounds simple: instead of telling voters what they should care about, Democratic candidates need to listen. That’s the advice North Carolina Senate Minority Leader Sydney Batch, D-Wake, gave Democratic leaders on Tuesday.
“What they want us to do is come to the door, ask them what they actually need, and then start promoting programs and talking about things that matter,” she said.
What most voters want is for their representatives to get things done, according to polling conducted by Public Policy Polling in late April and released at the conference.
The poll of nearly 700 registered voters across the country found that 83% of respondents considered it very important that leaders “get things done,” and that 58% preferred leaders who compromised to get results versus 35% who preferred leaders who stick to principles.
Considering that, State Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, D-Wake, said North Carolina Democrats can effectively campaign by explaining how they’ve worked with Republicans in recent years to develop real solutions.
Lawmakers have worked together to expand Medicaid to 700,000 North Carolinians, develop a thriving economy and business climate, and — before it was partially axed — pass a historic clean energy bill, Chaudhuri said.
Over a third of poll respondents also indicated that affordability and inflation is the top issue facing the country, with grocery, gas and energy and healthcare prices putting the most pressure on households.
For years, Republicans have been the more trusted party on economic issues, but that may be shifting. Chaudhuri said that’s likely an “indictment on bad policies” carried out by Republicans, mostly on the national level.
In the long term, it’s not enough for the Democrats to simply be an alternative to Republicans. They need an economic agenda of their own.
At the conference, Democratic leaders shared ideas on specific policies to further affordable housing, lower energy costs and address rising healthcare and childcare prices.
New Rochelle Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert and Phoenix Vice Mayor Kesha Washington talked about their housing successes, which included preemptively finding and preparing underutilized city property for affordable development, getting creative with construction materials in light of supply chain issues and creating assistance programs for first-time homeowners and specific groups like seniors.
North Carolina U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross and Jane Flegal of the Searchlight Institute covered energy issues, including the idea to use unused federal land like military bases to build data centers, enacting more demands on data centers and finding new ways to produce clean energy.
“There are so many ways (to reduce energy costs),” Flegal said. “The problem is that we’re not in a political environment where most of those are bipartisan, but I’m really hopeful that divided government will allow us to do it.”
Maine State House Speaker Ryan Fecteau shared the benefits of childcare worker stipends and paid family medical leave, as well as the struggles of establishing these policies.
To enact many of these policies, Democrats will have to gain power in November. There’s reason to be optimistic that will happen, Tom Jenson of Public Policy Polling said.
“I think there’s a real chance for Democrats to gain control of the North Carolina House this year, and this is about the first time I would have said that in the last 16 years,” he said.
Currently, Democrats hold 47 state House seats to Republicans’ 71 seats, with two former Democrats recently switching allegiances to unaffiliated.
Even if Democrats don’t fare that well, it seems certain they will break Republican supermajorities in the state House and Senate, Chaudhuri said.
What would a ‘blue wave’ mean for NC?
Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell isn’t in particular danger of losing her seat in November, as the leader of one of the state’s bluest cities.
But a statewide or national blue wave would still pay dividends for Democrats like Cowell when it comes to governing. It would mean “more assistance and less headwinds,” she said.
Counties and cities have to pass budgets this summer, before the election. They’re struggling as federal cuts trickle down to the local level, without state legislative assistance to fill the gaps, Cowell said.
“All the local governments are trying to figure out, with all the inflationary costs that are hitting us, how do we still cover that, but not raise taxes to the extent that we’re hurting everybody,” she said.
In Wake County, County Manager David Ellis said about a $600 million funding shortfall exists due to lack of legislative funding. He’s suggested a two-cent property tax increase to help make up the revenue, but it’s not guaranteed to succeed.
When Cowell and her fellow Democrats talk to voters, she said they can talk about how there was no tax increase last year, and they’re trying to keep it to a minimum this year.
“We also talk about the investments we’re making in the affordable parks, the cost of the summer camps and the programs and the really subsidized free activities that as a city, we can offer to families,” she said. “… Then you talk about how you’re trying to work with Duke Energy and the hospital system and the others.”
But not everything is in local control, particularly federal uncertainty.
For example, some approved developments aren’t moving forward because people aren’t confident enough to break ground given the current economic and political uncertainty, she said. A federal and state shift toward divided government or Democratic control could change that, she thinks.
Bultan is preparing for the aftermath of Democratic gains. Talking will only get them so far; they need short-, medium- and long-term solutions to issues like rising housing, energy and healthcare costs, she said.
She hopes NewDEAL leaders are able to lead the way.
“The sense of urgency is palpable, and people are not wanting to hear about another Blue Ribbon Commission to study something,” she said. “So we need to actually show that we are making progress.”
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