After parts of reliably blue states lurched to the right in 2024, Democrats said the party needs to revamp not its policies, but its messaging to win back voters.
Democrats from blue states told NOTUS that they remain confident that their policy positions are the right ones. But that won’t matter if voters don’t know about those policies — and some said Democrats are doing too little to get out the message in blue states.
“Democrats have stopped sometimes showing up in some of what would be tougher communities, our communities that are pink or trending red,” said Rep. Nikki Budzinski, who represents an Illinois district that leans Democratic. “And we need to show up and talk about our story and how we’ve delivered for these communities and make the real pitch and rebuild that trust.”
Illinois was one of several reliably blue states where Republicans made gains in 2024. While Kamala Harris still won in Illinois, the margin that voted for Donald Trump was almost 6 points higher than in 2020. In Harris’ home state of California, she lost vote share in all but one county and more than 10 percentage points’ worth in many. Trump also gained significant ground in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Rhode Island, Hawaii and Massachusetts, among others.
Some blue states saw smaller gains for the GOP. In Delaware, Harris and Rep. Sarah McBride won by similar margins on par with 2020.
“Delaware saw less of a shift this past cycle,” McBride said, crediting state Democrats’ work on paid family leave, a higher minimum wage, reproductive rights legislation and more. “We really ran on those specific economic advancements.”
While battleground states are important, Democrats need to continue investing in reliably blue states, she said.
“We ran a campaign that was knocking on doors early and knocking on doors everywhere,” McBride continued. “But we need more resources to be able to organize and organize around the state and year-round.”
The Democratic National Committee put direct funding and other support into states across the political spectrum this past cycle and will continue to do so, said spokesperson Abhi Rahman.
“From providing a 25% increase in baseline funding every month to every state party, to our state party innovation fund grants, to providing tech, data, and tools, the DNC is committed to ensuring that our in-state partners have the resources they need to run competitive campaigns and win,” he said in a statement.
Even in states where the Democratic state government has delivered on policy promises, the party needs to do more to connect with low-information voters, said Tom Bowen, a Democratic political consultant in Chicago.
“We need to remember that the voters that we’re losing here are not paying attention to The New York Times every day,” Bowen said. “They need to see us repeat constantly the issues that we’re prioritizing that matter to them and double down and triple down on addressing those issues.”
Rep. Andrea Salinas of Oregon said the party should learn from the Trump campaign’s use of smaller social platforms. In Oregon, Harris won by a similar margin to Joe Biden’s and Democrats flipped a House seat.
“Our policies are right. We’re always looking out for working people, making sure that we’re trying to bring down the cost of living. But somehow, we missed them,” Salinas told NOTUS.
Democrats should target smaller, more local news outlets and platforms to get their message across, particularly with Gen Z, she said.
California House Democrats were quick to point out that despite a national shift right, the party flipped three Republican-held seats in their favor. Despite those flips, the state’s House Democrats fared worse by raw vote share in 2024 than in any cycle since 2014. Voters in California’s bluest cities passed tough-on-crime measures and ousted progressive mayors as the state tilted further to the right.
Some Democrats have leaned into the political tides. Ahead of the election, Rep. Ami Bera encouraged state voters to pass Proposition 36, which increases penalties on repeat shoplifting offenders, despite some intraparty fighting over the measure, which ultimately passed with nearly 70% support.
“The population shifted,” Bera said. “Look at Prop 36. That was a retail theft bill I endorsed, I campaigned on it as a Democrat … which is very different than where the party was in December of 2020.”
Above all, though, Democrats said their focus needs to be on “kitchen-table” issues like grocery and childcare costs. The economy was the most important issue for many voters in 2024, according to preelection polling and exit polls.
“I’m focused on talking about affordability, making sure that people can afford to enjoy the 19th Congressional District,” California Rep. Jimmy Panetta said. “For me, it’s all about affordable housing. Focus on kitchen-table issues like affordability, like affordable housing. That’s how we claw back those areas.”
Not all Democrats are clamoring for a new approach to curb Republican gains.
“I don’t know if there’s an answer to that,” said California Rep. Mike Thompson, who was first elected to the House in 1998. “I think Democrats need to do the work that needs to be done to deal with the issues that face the American people,” adding that “it’s always worked for me.”
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Helen Huiskes and Mark Alfred are NOTUS reporters and Allbritton Journalism Institute fellows.