U.S. Elections Update: Are the Democrats moving left?

Ever since President Trump was elected in 2016, the Democratic Party has been trying to figure out why their candidates are losing white, working-class voters. After the 2024 U.S. presidential election where President Trump garnered more white working-class voters, the Democrats were told they were “elitist” and “talking down” to working-class voters.

Whether this assessment is accurate is up for debate, but what is true is that the Republican Party has successfully convinced working-class voters that they are on their side, and that Democrats are out of touch. Democrats have, for the most part, learned their lesson, and if you have been on the campaign trail with a Democratic Party candidate lately, whether an incumbent or a challenger, the talking points are almost exclusively about affordability. The high cost of everything is driving every Democratic Party candidate’s campaign. The other issues that are of high priority for the Democrats are health care and childcare.

It does not matter if the Democratic candidate is running in the City of Chicago or the suburbs of Illinois, or in New York City or upstate in Buffalo, New York. For Democrats, the issues are economic and President Trump, through tariffs and the war in Iran, has caused prices to rise—from gasoline to meat to eggs and fruit. Costs for growing food have skyrocketed, too.

Now that Democrats—beginning most notably with recently elected Mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani—have been relentless about affordability, the Republicans are screaming that the Democrats are not only moving to the left, but that they are “socialist.” So, is a populist economic message now considered “socialism”? Or is it that Democrats are finally on message and not letting go of an issue that is getting traction with working-class voters?

So, what is going on? I think the answer to whether the Democrats are moving to the left can be analyzed by looking at three factors. First, the Democrats are locked into an economic message. Call it “economic populism” or by another name; Democrats are focused on the economic struggles the American people have been facing, whether it’s the cost of food, healthcare, or gas. And while self-described “Democratic Socialists” have a more anti-capitalist message, for sure, most Democrats—and there are hundreds running for seats in the House and the Senate—are neither socialists nor anti-capitalists.

Second, in four specific “deep-blue” (Democratic) Congressional districts in recent primary elections, young organizers who define themselves as Democratic Socialists have won races again incumbents. Looking at those races, I doubt that most voters, if any, have read the DSA (“Democratic Socialists of America”) manifesto before voting. But what appears much more likely is that DSA candidates’ election success was the result of an anti-incumbent sentiment that is driving voters, especially young voters, in deep-blue districts. The other driving force for the election results—a force that is much more concerning—is that voters are increasingly against U.S. support for Israel.

The third factor driving the “socialist” narrative are the Republicans. The Republicans have not been secretive about their approach to the upcoming midterms. They are going on the attack against the Democrats, calling them socialists, communists, and anti-American and pointing to a handful of candidates as evidence of this supposed extreme leftist shift.

What will be the impact? At this moment, there will be very little impact. There are likely less than 40 seats that will be competitive in the upcoming midterm elections this fall. Thus, it is unlikely that electing four Democratic Socialists in already deep-blue districts will have an impact on the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections.