Trump helps fuel Democratic talent pool post-midterm elections

The Democratic Party, considered leaderless and rudderless after former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s unsuccessful 2024 campaigns for the White House, has emerged energized and with a surprisingly deep bench of political talent following Tuesday’s midterm elections, thanks in part to President Donald Trump.Democrats recapturing control of both the House and Senate, in addition to reclaiming a number of governors’ mansions, has given the party the opportunity to demonstrate its mettle before what is expected to be a fiercely fought presidential primary for the 2028 nomination.“Candidate quality was high, especially because of their willingness to be personally open about who they are and to break with Democratic orthodoxy when it was right for their states,” former White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates told the Washington Examiner. “Backlash to an unpopular administration both motivates voters and candidates to show up. A lot of Democratic stars were first elected in those kinds of years, like 2006 and 2018. Many more this time.” Republicans, including former Republican National Committee Communications Director Doug Heye, similarly attributed Democrats’ results on Tuesday to candidate quality, regardless of problems with Minnesota Senate nominee Peggy Flanagan, Maine counterpart Troy Jackson, and Alaska’s Mary Peltola.Flanagan’s campaign, in particular, was plagued by allegations regarding fraud in Minnesota’s social services programs and her academic background, while Jackson was a last-minute replacement for original nominee Graham Platner and Peltola is coming under criticism for Democrats recruiting a spoiler candidate with the same name as incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK).“Dems, by and large, nominated normal speaking people,” Heye told the Washington Examiner. “The standardbearer of the Republican Party talked about men’s butts.”Even as the races to represent Alaska and Mississippi in the Senate remain too close to call, Sen. Jon Ossoff’s (D-GA) decisive reelection, for example, announced within 15 minutes of polls closing, has transformed the second-term senator, 39, into a top-tier candidate for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.But aside from the specter of the 2028 primary, elsewhere on the Senate map, toss-up races that startled Democrats by going the party’s way underscore its reemergence from the political wilderness only two years after Trump became the first Republican president since George W. Bush to win the popular vote and 312 Electoral College votes to Harris’s 226, including from all seven swing states.Those marquee races include Sens.-elect Annie Andrews in South Carolina, Adam Hamilton in Kansas, and James Talarico in Texas, as well as Scott Colom in Mississippi, who is in an unexpected tie with Sen. Cindy Hyde‑Smith (R-MS) with 48.9% of the vote apiece.That is not to mention Sens.-elects Josh Turek in Iowa and Chris Pappas in New Hampshire, who will be the first openly gay man in the Senate when he is sworn in on Jan. 3, against the backdrop of flips by more experienced politicos Sens.-elect Sherrod Brown in Ohio and Roy Cooper in North Carolina.“Josh Turek just did what a lot of people in Washington said couldn’t be done: he won a Senate seat in Iowa as a Democrat, and he did it by going to the places our party had stopped showing up and talking to people about their lives,” Kane Miller, campaigns director for The Bench, told reporters.The Bench was one Democratic organization hoping to expand the party’s talent pool during the midterm election cycle by backing “16 next-generation candidates with real-world experience — teachers, nurses, veterans, farmers, and public servants.”“I don’t think a wave like that happens without good candidates actually connecting with voters and speaking to their concerns,” Matthew Corridoni, a spokesman for The Bench, told the Washington Examiner. “The GOP’s problems are much bigger than Trump himself. Democrats have learned how to recruit.”At the same time, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who was anticipated to win a fourth term in the Senate, used election night to soft-launch another presidential campaign, holding a press conference in New Jersey on “the Results and the Work Ahead for New Jersey and America.”Meanwhile, the gubernatorial races also offered likely 2028 Democratic contenders with a platform, including Govs. Wes Moore (D-MD), JB Pritzker (D-IL), and Josh Shapiro (D-PA).Billionaire Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotel empire, for instance, invested almost $40 million into midterm election campaigns, including in Texas amid criticism of fellow 2028 prospect and Democratic Governors Association Chairman Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) that Beshear did not do enough in the Lone Star State.“[Trump’s] unpopularity gave space for us to showcase some disciplined candidates,” a Democratic gubernatorial strategist told the Washington Examiner.But new and familiar faces also emerged and reemerged on Tuesday, including Democratic Govs.-elect Amy Acton in Ohio, Jocelyn Benson in Michigan, David Crowley in Wisconsin, Aaron Ford in Nevada, Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia, and Rob Sand in Iowa, with Crowley and Lance Bottoms to become the first black male and female governors in U.S. history, though Crowley shares the honor with Gov.-elect Byron Donalds (R-FL).And, of course, there was Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa (R-TX), who will be the first Democratic Texas governor in 35 years and the first Latino one, with the Alaska and Kansas races undecided.Simultaneously, although Democrats reemerged in the political milieu and discourse, that does not mean they are all reading from the same talking points.More liberal Democrats have argued Sen.-elect Abdul el Sayed’s (D-MI) win in the battleground state of Michigan, even Talarico’s victory in Texas, mean their more progressive politics is the path forward as the party prepares for 2028.That is despite the Democratic majority in the House being so large as to downplay the importance of the Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed incoming members of Congress.“[El Sayed] ran on three key issues: getting money out of politics, making life more affordable for working families, and guaranteeing health care for everyone through Medicare for All,” Progressive Change Campaign Committee Co-Chairman Adam Green told reporters of the prospective first Muslim senator. “He showed that a candidate who genuinely threatens billionaire and corporate power can withstand an unprecedented onslaught and win in a presidential battleground state.”Green added, “Abdul’s victory changes what is possible in the 2028 presidential race.”TRUMPWORLD SEARCHES FOR SCAPEGOATS AFTER BLUE WAVE WIPEOUTLikewise, Democratic wins in states that have traditionally been Republican strongholds, including Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, and Texas, as well as Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon’s loss in Florida, have been cited as part of the case that a more centrist approach is best for the party.“James Talarico put his fight for working Texans and against corruption at the center of his campaign, and his hopeful message earned him the support of Democrats, Independents and Republicans,” ModSquad Honorary Chairwoman and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) wrote in a statement. “ModSquad is thrilled to see him win, and I look forward to working with him in the U.S. Senate.”