Democrats aim for House majority in 2026 midterms with focus on affordability

EXCLUSIVE: THE Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The DCCC chairman said Democrats will remain focused on affordability as they aim to “take back those hammers” by winning a majority in the House in next year’s midterm elections.

House Democrats need to flip 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 hurt American families,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington state, who for a second consecutive election cycle chairs the DCCC, in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on the national news network.

High prices and the out-of-control cost of living were key issues boosting President Donald Trump and Republicans in the 2024 elections, as they won back majorities in the White House and Senate and retained 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, August 7, 2025, in Washington. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

But what a difference a year makes.

Democrats, who generally emphasize affordability, outperformed in the election as they enjoyed broad success at the polls. 2025 elections earlier this month. Democrats scored double-digit gubernatorial victories in blue-leaning but competitive New Jersey and Virginia, as well as convincing victories in high-profile battleground showdowns in Georgia and Pennsylvania and left-leaning New York and California.

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“It was clear that when people talked about the biggest issues affecting their communities, and right now, affordability, with the rising costs that people saw because of the policies put in place by this administration and the Republicans in Congress, they rejected that,” DelBene said, pointing to the 2025 election results.

“Absolutely, we’ve seen it in governor’s races like Virginia and New Jersey, but (also) in races across the country,” she added.

The Fox News national poll released this week was another warning sign for Trump and the GOP.

Three-quarters of voters questioned as part of the survey consulted the economy negatively, and a large number of respondents, including Republicans, said their costs for groceries, utilities, health care and housing increased this year.

The poll indicates voters blame the president, with nearly twice as many people pointing the finger at Trump as former President Joe Biden, when asked who is responsible for the current economy.

Only 38% of respondents gave the president a positive assessment of his handling of the economy. And Trump’s overall approval rating, at 41%, was the lowest of his second term according to a Fox News poll.

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“Affordability remains the number one issue for families. Housing, food, health care, child care, energy costs are all rising directly as a result of policies put in place by Republicans in Congress and by Donald Trump. And they promised to reduce costs from day one,” DelBene said.

Referring to last year’s election, she said: “That was their big message. They were going to cut costs. That was a big broken promise, and people feel that and it had a big impact and it’s going to continue. People want people who are going to stand up to them, not just be blindly loyal to the president.”

North Carolina Republican Rep. Richard Hudson, chairman of the rival National Republican Congressional Committee, took 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 are working very hard to do that.” »

“Certainly, we could always improve the way we communicate with our constituents about this,” he added. “But we’re 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 are going to improve their lives.”

And looking ahead to next year, he added, “as tax season approaches, a lot of families will be very happy to see that they will have a much higher take-home pay, and that’s thanks to Donald Trump and the House Republicans.”

The DCCC, in its messaging, linked vulnerable House Republicans to Trump.

DelBene argued that it’s “Republican policies that are hurting American families, the tariffs put in place by Donald Trump that have increased costs for families across the country, their continued work to destroy health care across this country.”

And she charged that the “policies they’ve prioritized favor the rich and well-connected, lower taxes for the rich and well-connected, but hurt working families across the country. People feel it, and we’re going to continue to call it out.”

The NRCC, in its message, sought to link Democrats facing tough re-elections in the House to New York City’s social mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in an effort to paint all Democrats as far-left radicals.

Zohran Mamdani speaks during a victory speech at a city election night watch party, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in New York. (Yuki Iwamura/AP Photo)

“The entire Democratic Party has moved to the left. It’s now Mamdani’s party,” Hudson charged. “And every Democrat in the House has to answer for their policies, and they have to let their constituents know whether they’re on Mamdani’s side or not?”

But DelBene, fighting back, charged that “Republicans have no message, so they’re trying to come up with something.”

And ignoring the GOP’s message, she said, “People in Iowa and Arizona aren’t focused on who the mayor of New York is.” They focus on who is running for office, who is going to defend them. »

DelBene was interviewed as a trio of new national polls indicated Democrats had the upper hand in the 2026 battle for the House majority.

“We take nothing for granted,” DelBene warned.

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But she was confident Democrats would “take back the House in 2026.”

“Our number one goal is to make sure that we take back those gavels. To have President Hakeem Jeffries, to have a Congress, a House of Representatives, that will work for the American people and do its job of controlling this administration,” DelBene stressed.