Vulnerable Democrat put leadership ‘on notice’ as party tries to recalibrate

House Democrats are pushing caucus leaders to change a messaging game they say cost their party the election. 

Lawmakers made their way back to Washington, D.C., last week for the first time since Democrats saw stinging losses in the White House, Senate, and House on Election Day. 

As the House Democratic Caucus gathered to debrief the results of the election with a “listening session,” vulnerable incumbents who managed to win their races despite a rough election cycle put pressure on the leadership to change its communications strategy.

Their message was to stop focusing on transgender rights and other culture war matters on which the GOP ran a winning campaign this election cycle and focus on the economy and issues that resonate with voters. 

“I think we need to improve our messaging. I got clobbered on all the transgender messaging in my district, and it was very painful,” Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) told the Hill. 

Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) added: “I just think it’s back to basics: listening to constituents [and] showing up everywhere.”

Their words come after Vice President Kamala Harris led Democrats in running campaigns focused largely on abortion access this election cycle. The strategy turned out to be a losing proposition as President-elect Donald Trump guided Republicans to victory by campaigning about the economy and immigration. Trump also made staggering gains in states across the country by framing Democrats as out of touch and pummeling them on supporting transgender operations for prisoners, including illegal immigrants, sex changes for children, and allowing biological males to play in women’s sports. 

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However, Ryan, Gonzalez, and a few other vulnerable incumbents were a bright spot in an otherwise rough election cycle for Democrats. The New Yorker won his race in the state’s 18th Congressional District by a wide margin earlier this month despite running in a district that leaned red. Orange County went for Trump by nearly 10 percentage points. The president-elect additionally made gains in Dutchess and Ulster counties, which are part of Ryan’s district.

Ryan credited his victory in a swing district to talking about issues voters related to. 

“We hammered affordability just over and over and over — obsessively talked about lowering costs —  and I outperformed Harris by 11 points in one of the toughest districts in the country,” he reflected. “So, it’s all nothing new here.”

Following the election, the New York Democrat made a viral post to X further explaining how he pulled off the win. 

Pointing out that he had challenged party chiefs on some issues and worked with Republicans on other policies, Ryan argued he ran a campaign on challenging the “elites” in both parties and standing up for his constituents’ views, regardless of whether it was seen as a GOP or “lefty”-owned priority.

“It’s not ideological. It’s about who fights for the people vs. who further empowers and enables the elites,” he said. 

Gonzalez, the representative from Texas, expressed similar beliefs, saying he was going to continue to buck party leadership if he felt its priorities were out of touch with his constituents. 

The Texas Democrat hails from a majority Hispanic district that went for Trump two weeks ago. Yet he managed to win reelection, even though Latino support for the president-elect grew by 14 points from 2020. 

“I got beat up on everything I pushed leadership against, everything I pushed the whip on issues I knew were losers. You know what saved me? Oil and gas. My oil and gas votes,” he said. 

“All I’m saying is: You’ve gotta respect me; respect my votes, and I kinda put everybody on notice,” he said. “Don’t ever try to whip me again, because it’s better to have me 97% of the time than my opponent 100% of the time.”  

Gonzalez expressed concern that party elders hadn’t learned their lesson after the losses they saw on Nov. 5. Although it held on to some critical seats in the lower chamber, the Democratic Party failed to keep Republicans from holding their House majority. Besides losing the White House, Democrats saw their Senate majority slip away.

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Yet Gonzales noted that during the House Democrats’ first caucus meeting last week, leadership didn’t appear too sobered by the results. 

“It feels like a pep rally in there. Nobody’s holding anybody responsible,” he said.