With fewer than 40 days until the US midterm elections, Swing Left's executive director, Yasmin Radjy, says the party's biggest challenge is defining what it stands for beyond being anti-Trump, and warns that failing to build durable power now could cost Democrats congressional majorities by 2030.
Defining issues: broken system and cost of living
Radjy said the two issues dominating voter conversations are a feeling that the system is broken and concerns around the cost of living. She noted that these topics often overlap and that very few conversations lack at least one of them.
“Everyone’s gotten the memo that we need to talk about affordability. I don’t think there’s a Republican or a Democrat who’s not aware of that,” she said. She highlighted candidates across the ideological spectrum, including Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, Mary Peltola in Alaska, Paige Cognetti in Pennsylvania, and Amish Shah in Arizona, who are connecting these issues in ways specific to their districts.
Regaining trust and building durable power
Radjy said the party must follow up with voters who express urgency about material concerns and acknowledge that some approaches are not working. She called for introspection and a willingness to take bigger, riskier swings.
She warned that the party cannot assume its base will turn out on anti-Trump sentiment alone. “We continue to not have a sufficiently clear answer, for a time when the winds are not blowing in our direction, of what Democrats stand for besides being anti-Trump,” she said.
Radjy also pointed to redistricting risks: population shifts in California and New York mean those states will lose electoral college votes starting in 2030, while Texas and Florida will gain power. Without building infrastructure during the midterms, she said, “we are going to lose without question in the future.”
Pragmatism over ideology
On the divide between progressives and centrists, Radjy called it a “false binary.” She said voters are often DSA-aligned on healthcare and Blue Dog-aligned on the border, and that leading with curiosity reveals voters are “idiosyncratic, strange and full of contradictions.”
On messaging around trans rights, she said most Americans want trans people to have rights, and that the discomfort stems from an information gap. “The answer is not to start repeating Fox News talking points,” she said, adding that the trans and sports issue is a decision for leagues, not governments.
Election protection and investment gaps
Radjy said there is an asymmetric investment in election protection on litigation, donor-organizing, and grassroots fronts. However, she said the progressive ecosystem has not invested enough in actually winning elections, which she called the most essential ingredient to election protection.
“We are not where we should be in some of the most competitive races in the country in terms of dollars invested and volunteers ready to help that candidate,” she said.
