Hi John. David here.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen a lot of bad takes about last week’s election.
The pundits, the podcasters, and everyone with a ring light and a Patreon debating whether Democrats should move to the left or the right — they’re making this election way more complicated than it actually was.
But before I get to what Tuesday really showed us, I need your help first. Our mid-month fundraising deadline hits at midnight, and we’re not where we need to be. If we want to build on the wins we just saw and prove that young progressives winning is the future, not an anomaly, we need to close this gap.
The best way to do that is with steady, predictable support — the kind that lets us focus on executing our strategy and electing progressives instead of scrambling at the last minute to hit deadlines (and filling your inbox with extra emails).
Use the links in this email to start a recurring contribution to Leaders We Deserve.
Here’s what last week’s election actually showed us:
Voters reward candidates who listen, speak clearly about affordability, and offer specific solutions — not empty talking points.
The candidates who followed that playbook won, regardless of ideology:
Different ideologies. Same tactics. One big tent — and one clear strategy
The takeaway from this election isn’t to “go left” or “go centrist.”
It’s to go where the people are. Show up, listen, and offer real solutions.
And in many ways, it’s about doing the opposite of what national Democrats did in 2024. We can’t spew meaningless talking points or tell voters to ignore what they’re living every day. We need to talk honestly about health care, housing, groceries, and everything else making life way too expensive.
And there’s one more lesson worth talking about:
When we trust young people to lead, they deliver. It’s not the disaster the establishment says it will be. Young candidates know how to communicate clearly, organize aggressively, and inspire new voters who have felt ignored for years. We know this because they already have the cards stacked against them, so to win they have to have their act together way more than other candidates. They aren’t “too bold” or “too young” — they’re exactly bold and young enough AND they have the lived experience that many elected officials can only pretend to know, like facing a job market where there are few entry-level jobs because of the proliferation of AI.
Now we have to carry these lessons forward into the 2026 midterms and two crucial upcoming runoffs for LWD-backed candidates in Atlanta and Houston. We have a narrow window to build on this momentum before the narrative shifts and the same old voices try to rewrite what last week proved.
Last Tuesday proved young leaders aren’t the future — they’re the present. We’re not waiting our turn anymore. We’re here now. And we’re winning.
Thanks for helping keep this momentum alive, John.
— David Hogg
