3 Questions For Democrats After 2025 Elections

Authored by Lawrence Wilson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Democrats won decisive victories in the 2025 elections, including a mayoral win in New York City and governorships in New Jersey and Virginia. Democrats also did well in races at the state and local levels.

Despite the victory, their path forward remains no clearer than before, according to some political analysts. That’s because the top Democratic winners presented vastly different governing strategies to voters.

Zohran Mamdani, a political newcomer who describes himself as a democratic socialist, defeated traditional Democrat and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in New York.

Centrist Democrats Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill won gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, respectively, claiming even wider margins at the polls.

According to Michael Genovese, president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University, whether Democrats will now embrace a leader who can mobilize the far edge of their party, or seek to solidify the middle while distancing themselves from far-left economic and social engineering, depends on this:

“Who captured the zeitgeist of the times?”

Here are three choices Democrats will face at a national level to solidify the gains of 2025.

How to Deliver Affordability

Economic issues were the focus of the major races, and Democrats won by promising change.

“The Democratic Party is a party of affordability,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said in a Nov. 5 press call. “Our candidates connected with voters at their core by running on what they truly care about: their families, their livelihoods, and the American dream.”

That worked well in 2025, with many Americans still dealing with high prices, and all elections were local.

The question now is how Democrats will deliver lower prices, more jobs, and lower housing costs at a national level.

In New York, Mamdani’s affordability plan rests on bigger government and higher taxes. He promised free bus service, free child care, and a rent freeze for nearly half of the city’s apartments to be paid for by an increase in corporate taxes and a 2 percent income tax on wealthy New Yorkers.

In Virginia, Gov.-elect Spanberger’s affordability plan strongly resembled that of President Donald Trump at some points.

She promised to reduce health care costs by cracking down on pharmacy benefit managers, reducing drug prices by negotiating prices with pharmaceutical companies, and lowering energy costs by declaring a state of emergency and increasing production—ideas Trump already implemented at the national level.

Genovese wondered which approach Democrats will land on nationally.

“Are Democrats … strongest when they go left, toward Mamdani, or are they best served by offering moderate, mainstream candidates, such as Spanberger and Sherrill?” he said.

Where to Stand on Gender, Israel

Apart from economics, the party must define a consistent position on issues that have been driven mostly by the party’s left wing, according to Richard Himelfarb, a professor of political science at Hofstra University.

One such issue is gender ideology.

Democrats have advocated for transgender rights and civil liberties, and the California Assembly rejected bills that would have banned transgender-identifying males from competing against women in school sports.

However, not all Democrats have drawn a hard line on this issue.

“Abigail Spanberger really dodged questions about what to do about biological men in women’s sports,” Himelfarb told The Epoch Times.

That worked in a state like Virginia, he said, but said, “I don’t know that the Democratic candidate for the presidency in 2028 is going to be able to dodge that question.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom also said on his own podcast in March that it is “deeply unfair” for transgender athletes to compete in women’s and girls’ sports.

Another issue that may call for a national position is support for Israel, according to Himelfarb.

The Democratic platform for 2024 states that “the United States strongly supports Israel in the fight against Hamas.” The platform also calls for a two-state solution, providing a home for the Palestinian people.

Yet, Himmelfarb said, “Opposition to Israel has been, in many ways, normalized in the Democratic party, and I think that you are going to see more of that going forward.”

As a case study in both issues, Himelfarb cites Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), who questioned the inclusion of transgender athletes in female sports following the last election and was soundly criticized by fellow Democrats.

Moulton is challenging Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in the 2026 primary and has refused to accept contributions from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying group.

“So he’s basically saying, I’m not unequivocally supportive of the State of Israel. He’s tried to move to the left of Markey,” Himelfarb said.

It appears that voters on the left and center will demand clear positions on these issues in the next election.

What You Stand For

Democrats campaigned heavily against Trump in the 2025 election, as they have in most elections since 2016. The party’s 2024 platform mentions Trump 150 times in 92 pages but refers to the future just 31 times.

The party’s strategy now is to continue winning by focusing on household economics, which leaders believe they can own.

“We gave voters something to be for and not just against,” Martin said.

The approval rating of the sitting president is the most important factor in off-year elections, according to Henry Olsen, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Trump’s approval rating has been below 50 percent for weeks.

“The Democrats should have had a good night. It was theirs to lose,” James Lee, president of Susquehanna Polling and Research, said, referring to the Nov. 4 results.

Economic issues may not be as potent an issue for Democrats as they believe, according to Aaron Dusso, chairman of the Department of Political Science at Indiana University–Indianapolis.

Polling consistently indicates that voters trust Republicans to handle the economy more than they trust Democrats, Dusso said. There’s no guarantee that economic conditions won’t improve over the next 12 months.

Democrats must present a positive vision for issues that they can own, Dusso said.

“You’ve got to get [voters] thinking about other things, the issues that are primary for you.” For Democrats, that’s health care, social policy, and social issues, he said.

To win the next election, Dusso said, Democrats must do more than say, “We’re just like Republicans, just a little bit nicer. You’ve got to stand for something.”

The Epoch Times requested comments from the Democratic National Committee and did not receive a response by the time of publication.