In every high-profile race â from California to the East Coast â Democrats outperformed expectations in Tuesdayâs election. Notable victories include Zohran Mamdaniâs win in the New York City mayoral race, Abigail Spanbergerâs election as governor of Virginia and Mikie Sherrillâs win in the New Jersey governor race.
Democratic National Committee vice chair said Mamdani, Spanberger and Sherrill all focused their campaigns on making life more affordable for their constituents.
ââYesterday showed what happens when we make the type of local investments and have candidates that are speaking to the concerns of their neighbors, where theyâre running for office,â Kenyatta said.
And, Kenyatta said, the results of these elections show that the American people are looking for solutions. While President Trump promised lower costs of living, Kenyatta said he hasnât delivered, and people are realizing it.
âWe know that the Republicans are going to lie,â Kenyatta said. âWhat we have to do is tell the truth about what we want to do to make life better for working people and working families. And we saw that all across the country.â
3 questions with Malcolm Kenyatta
Zohran Mamdani had a historic win. Some critics say his policies are too radical, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wouldnât endorse him. Do you think Mamdaniâs playbook should be replicated across the country for Democrats?
ââZohran Mamdani ran an incredible campaign, and the DNC was proud to support him. Chair [Ken] Martin and myself, I think, endorsed him minutes after he won the primary, and thatâs how it should be. Voters and Democratic primaries decide who our nominees are.
âI think there was a real through line between Zohranâs exciting campaign and also the campaigns that we saw in New Jersey and in Virginia that every single one of them understood that life is too expensive for the American people, and they talked about how they wanted to make life better for working people and working families.
âThis is not about needing to go to the left or go to the right. This is about needing to grow the party.â
Republicans have already started campaigns linking the Democratic Party to Mamdaniâs progressive policies. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said Mamdani and other progressive Democrats âdisdain the founding principles of their own country.â Do you have an answer to that?
ââI reject their framing. Mike Johnson talked about rejecting the founding principles of this country. He is bowing every single day to a guy who wants to be a king, a guy who is operating from an authoritarian, fascistic playbook. So we wonât be taking marching orders from Republicans.
âAmericans are very clear on what they want, and we saw it in races in New York, New Jersey. We saw it in Pennsylvania. They donât want a billionaire, corrupt class of Donald Trumpâs friends who rigged the economy for themselves at the expense of everyone else.
âIâve watched Mike Johnson and folks like this call every Democrat whoâs running every name under the sun. What I said before I think is worth repeating, that every single candidate on the ballot ran their own race.
âAnd we are proud to have a party where folks like Mikie Sherrill can win, where folks like Abigail Spanberger can win, and also where you can have exciting upstart candidates like Zohran Mamdani win.
âThe Democratic Party needs to grow. And so this is not about one wing of the party controlling who the party is. This is about growing the party and welcoming in Americans, Republicans, Independents, people who believe Donald Trumpâs promises that he was going to make life more affordable, who are right now seeing that Donald Trump has made life more expensive.â
Ratings for the Democratic Party were at a 30-year low last week, and polls found that 68% of people think Democrats are out of touch. How do you keep winning with numbers like that?
âWe just won historic races yesterday, and let me be very clear: you donât beat something with nothing. Democrats had something. We had candidates who represented their neighbors, who were talking about the future of this country and how theyâre going to make life better and lower costs for Americans. I think thatâs the playbook moving forward.
âWhen I see Democrats who are saying, âfight harder, do more,â weâre all singing from the same playbook. I want us to fight harder and do more. And thatâs why you have a new DNC thatâs doing just that. And when you look at New Jersey, Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Mississippi â where we broke the super majority of the Senate there â many of those victories were made possible because of the investments that the DNC is making at the local level, and that local organizing, that year-round organizing, having candidates who represent their neighbors and their communities who can speak authentically about whatâs happening, where they live, that is a recipe for success.
âPeople are going to try make a lot of different claims about what yesterday means, and what I think the claim people should walk away with is that Democrats are back and weâre back to win. And not to just win so our jersey can win, but weâre back to win to lower costs for the American people to make their lives better.â
This interview was edited for clarity.
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