New report pushes Democrats to moderate positions ahead of 2026 midterms

like Democratic Party Facing losses up and down the ballot in 2024, a new report urges Democrats to soften their positions on identity politics and cultural issues while embracing affordability, border security and public safety ahead of competitive midterm elections expected next year.

The party’s future seemed headed toward socialism when the trio identified themselves as Democratic Socialists – New York City mayoral candidate Zahran Mamdanirepresentative. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezD.N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. — joined forces to rally more than 10,000 New York City voters at Forest Hills Stadium on Sunday. But with Election Day one week away, the report, titled “The Winning Report,” urges Democrats to return to the center.

“To win elections, Democrats need to make the following changes. First, we need to focus more on issues that voters think we are not prioritizing enough (the economy, cost of living, health care, border security, public safety), and less on issues that voters think we are giving too high a priority (climate change, democracy, abortion, identity issues, cultural),” wrote authors Simon Bazelon, Lauren Harper, and Pope William Kerr.

“Second, we need to soften our positions on issues where our agenda is unpopular, including immigration, public safety, energy production, and some issues of identity and culture,” the trio of Democratic scholars and activists added.

Democrats are already concerned about the “big problem” of winning back voters in 2028, a political analyst says

Supporters of Democratic mayoral candidate Zahran Mamdani gather outside 30 Rock in New York City on Thursday, October 16, 2025. (Fox News Digital/Deirdre Heavy)

The Democratic Party has been without a clear leader since the previous Vice President Kamala Harris He lost the 2024 presidential election to President Donald Trump last year.

New York City voters embrace democratic socialists like AOC, and Sanders endorses Mamdani

Ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, the New York City mayoral race has dominated the national political scene this year.

New York Democrats, such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Gov. Cathy HochulHe waited months to endorse the Democratic candidate. Meanwhile, Republicans have benefited from endorsements such as embracing a far-left agenda, including Trump calling Mamdani a “communist” — a label he rejected.

New York City voters who attended the star-studded rally in Queens on Sunday embraced democratic socialism and told Fox News Digital that Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez represent the future of the Democratic Party.

But the next day, the “Decision to Win” report was issued. It was first shared with Semaforpushes Democrats to the center. The report is based on “thousands of election results, hundreds of public opinion polls and academic papers, dozens of case studies, and polls of more than 500,000 voters that we have conducted since the 2024 election.”

According to the Semaphore report, elected Democrats are scheduled to receive copies of the report as early as this week, and there will be events in Washington, D.C., and New York City to promote it.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One as he travels from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Tokyo, Japan, Monday, October 27, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

Democratic campaign staff They are more liberal than Democratic voters, and are more likely to be “on average, younger, more educated, more likely to be white, more likely to be female, and less likely to attend church than both Democratic voters and voters overall,” according to academic research by the American Political Science Review.

While the report finds that “most voters are white, most voters are not college educated, and most voters are over 50,” the authors find that Democrats are simultaneously being drawn to the left by donors and campaign staff.

“Research from Progress Data shows that Democratic elites stand largely to the left of the general public, and that the gap between Democratic elites and the public is larger than the gap between Republican elites and the public,” the report states, arguing that Democratic donors and campaign staff are pushing the party to the left, away from voters.

“to Win again“Democrats need to listen more to voters and listen less to alienated donors, disconnected party elites, and Democratic politicians who consistently outperform the top of the ticket,” the authors wrote.

This has created a disconnect between the Democratic forces leading the national conversation and the voters who actually turn out for the election, according to the report.

Former US President Barack Obama speaks at the Obama Foundation’s Democracy Forum event at the Javits Center on November 17, 2022, in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Since the president Barack Obama After winning his re-election campaign in 2012, the authors claim that the Democratic Party has moved to the left on “essentially every issue.”

They conclude that today’s Democratic Party is more focused on climate change, democracy, abortion, and identity politics than on the economy and the middle class. With this shift, they say, more voters now see the party as “out of touch with reality”.

The authors encourage Democrats to refocus policy agendas on them Reduce costs and build the economy and advocating for “grassroots” economic policies rather than student loan forgiveness or Medicare for All. They also urge Democrats to focus less on things like climate change and abortion and more on the cost of living.

That includes Moderate positions on immigrationPublic safety, energy production, and some issues of identity or culture, while rejecting economic influence in politics.

New York City mayoral candidate Zahran Mamdani, Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Va., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., react on stage during the “New York is Not for Sale” rally at Forest Hills Stadium, in the borough of Queens, New York City on October 26, 2025. (Reuters/Eduardo Munoz)

“First, voters’ frustration with the status quo is not the same as a desire for socialism. Second, criticism of the status quo is a complement to advocating popular policies on the issues that matter most to the American people, not a substitute.”

The authors acknowledge that Democrats have “a lot to learn” from Mamdani, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders about prioritizing affordability, just as they have to learn from Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego’s approach to the problem. Border security in arizona.

According to the authors, Democrats should prioritize “a consistent focus on the economic issues that are the top priorities for working-class Americans while meeting voters where they are on issues like immigration and public safety.”

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While the authors push Democrats to the center, they argue that “the victory report does not call for abandoning our party’s core values ​​or refusing to stand up for disenfranchised groups.”

The report encourages Democrats to “be brave and stand up.” Third party demands “Embrace new media platforms and unscripted events with voters, rather than listening to advisors who are most afraid their candidate will make a mistake.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the DNC for comment but did not immediately receive a response.