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you winsome you lose some

Tuesday’s election results kind of felt like the equivalent of going to a tapas restaurant with your best friends. Maybe someone wants the patatas bravas, someone else wants the pan con tomate, and someone else wants the entire paella platter. But no matter what you ordered, you’re all going to have a really damn good time and get way too drunk on that pitcher of sangria.

No matter what specific issues they ran on, Democrats across the country saw success on Tuesday. Zohran Mamdani’s rise from 1% in the polls to the mayor-elect of New York City captured much of the media attention, and was driven by his campaign's ability to connect local issues with a flavor of economic populism — something Democrats across the country were able to do to win elections Tuesday night.

As Ryan O’Donnell, Executive Director of Data for Progress, wrote for DFP Insights ([link removed]) this week:

“There’s a common refrain from some pundits to dismiss Mamdani’s victory as a quirk of New York City politics rather than a sign of something bigger. But his campaign paired moral conviction with concrete plans to lower costs and expand access to services, making it unmistakable what he stood for and whom he was fighting for. The lesson isn’t that every candidate should mimic his style — you can’t fake authenticity — but that voters everywhere respond when a candidate connects economic populism to clear, actionable goals.”

Our polling finds that populist economic policies like those Mamdani campaigned on in New York City have a strong appeal nationwide, and that voters want the government to play a major role in lowering the cost of living.
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Candidates closer to the center are running on an affordability message as well. Mikie Sherrill, who won the New Jersey governor’s race, made lowering electricity prices a critical issue in her campaign — boldly promising to declare a “state of emergency” and freeze utility rates on Day 1. Abigail Spanberger, who won the Virginia governor’s race, railed against Trump’s billionaire bailouts in her ads and overcame millions of dollars spent against her in anti-transgender attack ads.

When voters are opening their menu, they’re not ordering bland, business-as-usual politics. And the truth is, they’re not opening menus all that often these days, given how expensive the cost of living has gotten! Democrats who ran on a clear plan to lower the cost of living won in 2025, and that’s a lesson the party can learn in 2026.

Read the full DFP Insight here ([link removed]) .

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Here are some other highlights from DFP this week:

SNAP, crackle, pop

We love to see the U.S. out here breaking records, but it’s not great when that record is the longest government shutdown in history.

Unlike previous shutdowns, the Trump administration has refused to fully administer SNAP benefits, which millions of Americans, especially the elderly and families with children, rely on to put food on the table each week. Despite updating the guidance for states after facing backlash, many SNAP recipients are still facing steep cuts ([link removed]) .

In our new poll ([link removed]) , we find that voters are overwhelmingly favorable of SNAP, with 78% holding a favorable opinion and only 15% holding an unfavorable one. That includes 71% of Independents and 69% of Republicans.

Additionally, voters trust the Democratic Party (51%) more than the Republican Party (43%) to handle SNAP, including Independents by a +10-point margin.
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If he wanted to, Trump could literally resume SNAP benefit payouts with the snap of his fingers by tapping into the program’s reserve funds. An overwhelming majority of voters — more than 3 in 4 — want the Trump administration to use reserve funds for this purpose, including majorities of voters across party lines.

Heading into the Christmas season, it’s not a good sign that our government feels like it’s run by someone more evil than Ebenezer Scrooge. But it’ll take more than the ghosts of presidents past to get Trump to reopen the government — and maybe a terrible night ([link removed]) of election results for his party can do the trick.

Read the full poll here ([link removed]) .

Midterm mania!

We apologize in advance for making you think about the passage of time. We promise that getting old is a gift, you look amazing, and you really don’t need to worry about the next generation switching up which style of jeans you’re supposed to wear.

But we really only have one year until the next midterm elections, and while we can’t gaze into the future like Raven Baxter, we can give you a sneak preview of where some of the 2026 races stand today.

Over the last month, we were in the field in both Alaska and Massachusetts — aka the two states in America with the funkiest looking coastlines.

In Massachusetts ([link removed]) , the more progressive incumbent Senator Ed Markey is fending off a primary challenge from a younger centrist, Representative Seth Moulton. In our poll, we find that Markey leads Moulton by 19 points, while 13% of voters say they are undecided.
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And in Alaska ([link removed]) , Fish Queen ([link removed]) Mary Peltola currently leads Senator Dan Sullivan in a hypothetical senate matchup by one point. Currently, Peltola is still mulling over a Senate run, a gubernatorial run, or, as she puts it ([link removed]) , “All of the above + Bethel City Council + Tribal Judge.” If she were to run for governor, we find her in a commanding position, leading the next Republican candidate by 31 points.
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There’s only one way to chase the high from Tuesday night, and winning elections is one addiction we shouldn’t break. Although 2026 is still a year away, now is the time to start getting involved in the campaigns you support — because one year really isn’t that much time at all.

Read the full MA poll here ([link removed]) , and the full AK poll here ([link removed]) .

DFP In The News

MSNBC: Democrats’ big election wins showed they don’t need to hide their support for trans rights ([link removed])

Politico: The incumbents are (mostly) all right ([link removed])

Alaska Public Media: New poll shows Peltola neck-and-neck with Sullivan, if she were to run for U.S. Senate ([link removed])

New York Magazine: What Early-Voting Data Is Revealing About the NYC Mayoral Race ([link removed])

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