Democrats’ long-warring ideological factions have reached a détente, new POLITICO Poll data shows. It may not last.
Half of progressives and moderates now say the party is “somewhat” or “much more” unified since the election, according to the latest survey, conducted last weekend by PF Global. And everyone agrees on what the Democratic-led Congress needs to do first, above anything else: bring down the cost of living.
The size and sweep of Democrats’ midterms romp appears to have temporarily quelled the electability questions that fueled the long-running standoff between the party’s factions. Progressives flipped House districts and snagged Senate seats on plainly purple turf. Many moderate candidates flipped deep-red territory for the first time in decades. Put together, Democrats are now headed for their biggest House majority of the century.
“We’ve got this great big-tent party that’s coming into Congress, and I think that’s what people want,” said Pete Giangreco, a veteran Democratic strategist who worked across House, Senate and gubernatorial races this past cycle. “They don’t want these ideological divisions”
Today, two out of three Democratic midterm voters believe that progressives make their party stronger — considerably higher than the 41% who said so before Election Day, according to polls taken before and after the midterms. Among self-described moderate Democrats, that belief has risen 26 points, from 33% to 59%. Among progressives, it’s risen from 58% to 74%.
“If people are spending more time going after other Democrats instead of figuring out how to work together as a team, then I’m not sure that they’ve got the right priorities,” moderate Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) told POLITICO.
But it’s not clear how long the unity will last.
The polling reveals cracks are already starting to reemerge within Democrats’ coalition, foreshadowing potential intraparty fights to come on Capitol Hill and beyond into 2028. Democrats agree on the broad strokes of their priorities, but they diverge on the scope of lawmakers’ approach and the kind of presidential nominee they’d like to see.
“Democrats, they don’t need to be getting too big-headed about this quote-unquote blue wave or blue tsunami,” said incoming Arizona 6th District Rep. JoAnna Mendoza. “What they need to focus on is making sure that we’re bringing people relief and that we’re taking action because that’s what people need right now.”
The poll bears out two of Democrats’ near-universal takeaways from last Tuesday that are already shaping the shadow 2028 presidential primary: Voters want to elect fighters — and they want them to cut down high costs.
The overwhelming majority of Democratic midterm voters — 78% — say bringing down the cost of living should be Democrats’ top focus as they come into control of Congress next year. Nearly as many, 71%, of Americans said the same.
But Democratic voters internally disagree on approach. The POLITICO Poll data shows 47% of the party’s midterm voters prefer the next Congress’ agenda be set by Democrats who want major systemic reforms and government intervention to reduce inequality, compared to 39% who prefer Democrats who want pragmatic and targeted economic solutions.
A majority of progressives, 57%, choose systemic reform. Moderates, meanwhile, are split between systemic reform (43%) and targeted economic solutions (44%)
Those splits are poised to spill onto the presidential campaign trail. Even as voters broadly agree on wanting a “fighter” candidate, half of progressives still think someone with their ideology would be among the most electable in 2028, while just over a third of moderates, 36%, say someone in their lane has the best shot.
Several possible White House aspirants are trying to push a public truce, arguing that factional infighting needs to take a backseat for now.
“I don’t think any voters think about it that way,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro told reporters when asked by POLITICO whether there was a progressive or moderate takeaway from the midterms at Crooked Media’s post-election conference in D.C. “People want to see the results of their government because whether you voted for Trump or Harris in the last election, your prices are still too damn high.”
Progressive Rep. Ro Khanna, in a post-election interview, said “we had electability across the board” in the midterms and that the question heading into 2028 is “who has the best vision for America.”
Lauren Fedor contributed to this report.
