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EXCLUSIVE: He Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) says Democrats will keep their focus squarely on affordability as they aim to “take back those gavels” by capturing the House majority in next year’s midterm elections.
House Democrats need to take back just three GOP-held seats in 2026 to regain control of the chamber for the first time in four years.
“We are going to hold Republicans accountable for their policies that are harming American families,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington state, who is chairing the DCCC for the second consecutive election cycle, in an exclusive NTV interview with Fox News Digital.
High prices and out-of-control living costs were key issues driving the president donald trump and the Republicans in the 2024 elections, when they regained the majority in the White House and the Senate and maintained control of the House.
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President Donald Trump holds a chart as he discusses the economy in the Oval Office of the White House, Aug. 7, 2025, in Washington. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)
But what a difference a year makes.
Democrats, with an overall focus on affordability, outperformed at the polls, enjoying overwhelming success at the polls in the election. Elections 2025 earlier this month. Democrats scored double-digit victories in the blue-leaning but competitive governorships of New Jersey and Virginia, and convincing victories in high-profile showdowns in the battlegrounds of Georgia and Pennsylvania and the left-leaning cities of New York and California.
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“It was clear that when people were talking about the biggest issues affecting their communities, and right now, affordability, with the rising costs that people have seen as a result of the policies put in place by this administration and Republicans in Congress, they rejected it,” DelBene said while pointing to the 2025 election results.
“Of course, we saw it in gubernatorial elections like Virginia and New Jersey, but [also] in races all over the country,” he added.
Fox News National Poll released this week was another warning sign for Trump and the Republican Party.
Three quarters of voters surveyed saw the economy negative, and a large number of respondents, including Republicans, said their costs for food, utilities, health care and housing have increased this year.
The poll indicated that voters blame the president, with nearly twice as many people pointing the finger at Trump than the former president. joe bidenwhen asked who is responsible for the current economy.
Only 38% of respondents praised the president for how he is handling the economy. And Trump’s overall approval rating, at 41%, was the lowest of his second term in Fox News polls.
ELECTORAL REFLECTION: ‘DEMOCRATS REVERSED THE SCRIPT’ ON AFFORDABILITY IN CONFRESHMENTS AT THE POLLS
“Affordability remains the number one issue for families. Housing, food, healthcare, child care and energy costs are rising directly as a result of the policies implemented by Republicans in Congress and Donald Trump. And they promised to reduce costs from day one,” DelBene said.
Referring to last year’s election, he said: “That was their big message. They were going to cut costs. It’s been a big broken promise, and people are feeling that and that has had a big impact and will continue. People want people who will stand up for them, not just be blindly loyal to the President.”
Republican Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, rival chairman National Republican Congressional Committeetook aim at the former president, telling Fox News Digital: “There are challenges with the economy, because Biden broke it, and House Republicans, working with President Trump, are going to fix it, and we’re working very hard to do it.”
“Certainly, we can always improve how we communicate with our voters about this,” he added. “But we’re very focused on the issues that matter to them. You know, it’s the cost of things, it’s safety in their neighborhood, it’s a secure border. We’re very focused on that and we’ve delivered a lot of things that will improve their lives.”
And looking ahead to next year, he added, “when tax season comes, a lot of families will be very happy to see that they have a lot more take-home pay, and that’s because of Donald Trump and the House Republicans.”
The DCCC, in its messaging, has linked vulnerable House Republicans to Trump.
DelBene argued that it is “Republican policies that are hurting American families, the tariffs that Donald Trump has implemented that have driven up costs for families across the country, his continued work to destroy health care across the country.”
And he charged that “the policies they have prioritized have favored the rich and well-connected, tax breaks for the rich and well-connected, but hurting working families across the country. People are feeling that, and we are going to continue to denounce that.”
The NRCC, in its messaging, has aimed to link Democrats facing challenging re-elections in the House of Representatives to the elected mayor of New York City. Zohran Mamdanisince it seeks to paint all Democrats as far-left radicals.
Zohran Mamdani speaks during a victory speech at a late-night mayoral election watch party, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in New York. (Yuki Iwamura/AP Photo)
“The entire Democratic Party has moved to the left. This is now Mamdani’s party,” Hudson charged. “And every House Democrat must answer for their policies, and must let their constituents know whether they support Mamdani or not.”
But DelBene, responding, charged that “Republicans don’t have a message, so they’re trying to find something.”
And dismissing GOP messaging, he said, “the people of Iowa and Arizona are not focused on who is the mayor of New York. They are focused on who is running for office, who is going to defend them.”
DelBene was interviewed as a trio of new national polls indicated that Democrats had the advantage in the battle for power in 2026. House majority.
“We don’t take anything for granted,” DelBene cautioned.
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But he was confident that Democrats “will take back the chamber in 2026.”
“Our number one goal is to make sure that we remove those gavels. That President Hakeem Jeffries has a Congress, a House of Representatives, that works for the American people and does his job as a check on this administration,” DelBene emphasized.
