Democrats Who Win Battleground Districts Run as Problem Solvers, Not Manufactured Candidates, New PPI Report Finds

WASHINGTON (September 17, 2026) — Democrats who hold competitive, heavily working-class districts make up just 10% of state senators and 13% of state house members across the seven battleground states that decide presidential elections. Among 28 such lawmakers interviewed for a new report, 15 describe themselves as moderates, and none identify as democratic socialists. Twenty of them ran ahead of Kamala Harris in 2024. A report released today by the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) argues those facts are connected, and that the Democrats actually winning working-class voters look nothing like the left-wing insurgents dominating national media coverage of the party’s direction.

The report, titled “Democrats Who Win the Working Class: Profiles From the Seven Battleground States” and authored by Robin Johnson, a political and governmental relations consultant and part-time lecturer in political science at Monmouth College, Stuart Malec, Vice President of Public Affairs at PPI, and Jolie Libert, Political Director at PPI, compiles as-told-to interviews with state legislators from Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Each won a district decided by less than 10 points where the share of adults without a bachelor’s degree exceeds the national average of 64.3%.

Five themes emerged across the interviews:

On what voters care about … legislators returned again and again to the cost of living. “It’s all about pocketbook, bread and butter issues; the wallet; how can I afford to take care of my family?” said Assemblymember Max Carter (D-Nev.), a former union electrician. State Rep. Bryan Cohn (D-N.C.), who beat a Republican incumbent in a rural district, put it more bluntly: “A solid economic platform will connect with them not just economically, but also emotionally. Everything else is vapor.”
On how the party talks … several warned that Democrats describe the economy in words their constituents never use. “The term ‘affordability,’ for example. Who talks like that?” said State Rep. Karen DeSanto (D-Wis.). “My voters say that they can’t afford gas. That’s how I speak.”
On cultural issues … the national brand among non-college voters is “busted,” in the words of State Sen. Jamie Wall (D-Wis.). Most of the legislators do not hide their own positions, and many ran explicitly on abortion rights, but they refuse to let culture war fights crowd out economic concerns, and several objected to litmus tests from national advocacy groups that leave swing-district lawmakers exposed.
On business … many cited relationships with local employers and chambers of commerce as central to their appeal, arguing there is daylight between being pro-business and being anti-worker.
On tactics … the lawmakers were nearly unanimous that door knocking matters most, with several stressing longer conversations over volume, and listening over pitching. “I still have a pair of bronze boots from my first race when I knocked on 6,000 doors and walked 600 miles,” said Assemblymember Carter.

The report also pushes back on the idea that winning working-class voters is a casting problem. The 28 legislators interviewed are small business owners, lawyers, veterans, ministers and one former professional clown. The authors conclude that authenticity comes from community ties rather than biography, a contrast they draw directly with Graham Platner, whose blue-collar image outpaced a résumé that included a prep school education and a famous architect grandfather.

These lawmakers ran on things voters could feel in a monthly bill. Nevada’s Assemblymember Carter spearheaded a wage theft crackdown signed by the state’s Republican governor. State Rep. Elaine Marzola (D-Nev.) cited votes to cap insulin at $35 and to force the state’s energy utility to return more than $63 million to overcharged customers. State Rep. Tangie Herring (D-Ga.) secured property tax relief for seniors. Michigan Democrats campaigned on repealing the state’s retirement tax, and the Wisconsin legislators interviewed all ran in 2024 on adopting Medicaid expansion.

PPI selected state legislators deliberately, arguing their perspective is absent from New York and Beltway-centric debates about how Democrats can win. The report contends that with smaller districts and less money for television, state lawmakers spend more time connecting with constituents face-to-face, making them the party’s best available read on what’s happening on the ground in places where its national brand is a liability.

Read and download the report here.

Founded in 1989, PPI is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Find an expert and learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org. Follow us at @ppi.

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Media Contact: Ian O’Keefe – iokeefe@ppionline.org