Democrats are hopeful again. But unresolved questions remain about party’s path forward

By STEVE PEOPLES Associated Press WASHINGTON AP For a day at least beleaguered Democrats are hopeful again But just beneath the party s relief at securing its first big electoral wins since last November s drubbing lay unresolved questions about its direction heading into next year s midterm elections The Ballot Day romp of Republicans stretched from deep-blue New York and California to swing states Georgia Pennsylvania and Virginia There were signs that key voting groups including young people Black voters and Hispanics who shifted toward President Donald Trump s Republican Party just a year ago may be shifting back And Democratic leaders across the political spectrum coalesced behind a simple message focused on Trump s failure to address rising costs and everyday kitchen table issues The dominant performance sparked a new round of debate among the party s establishment-minded pragmatists and fiery progressives over which approach led to Tuesday s victories and which path to take into the high-stakes midterm elections and beyond The lessons Democrats learn from the victories will help determine the party s leading message and messengers next year when elections will decide the balance of power in Congress for the second half of Trump s term and potentially in the presidential race which has already entered its earliest stages Of module there s a division within the Democratic Party There s no secret Sen Bernie Sanders explained reporters at a Capitol Hill press conference about the polling results Sanders and his chief political strategist pointed to the success of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani a democratic socialist as a model for Democrats across the country But Rep Suzan Del Bene who leads the House Democrats midterm campaign strategy avoided saying Mamdani s name when demanded about his success This combination of photos taken on Tuesday Nov shows Abigail Spanberger in Richmond Va left Zohran Mamdani in New York center and Mikie Sherrill in East Brunswick N J AP Photo Stephanie Scarbrough Yuki Iwamura and Matt Rourke Del Bene instead cheered the moderate approach adopted by Democrats Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill in accomplished races for governor in Virginia and New Jersey as a more viable track for candidates outside of a Democratic stronghold like New York City New York is bright blue and the path to the majority in the House is going to be through purple districts she narrated The Associated Press The people of Arizona Iowa and Nebraska aren t focused on the mayor of New York Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro a likely Democratic presidential prospect who campaigned alongside Democrats in several states leading up to Tuesday s elections noted the candidates hit on a common issue that resonated with voters regardless of location All of these candidates who won in these different states were focused on peoples everyday necessities Shapiro commented And you saw voters in every one of those states and cities showing up to send a clear message to Donald Trump that they re rejecting his chaos Intraparty criticism Amid Democrats celebratory phone calls and news conferences members of the party s different wings had several sharp critiques for each other While Shapiro cheered the party s success during a Wednesday interview he also acknowledged concerns about Mamdani in New York Signs welcomes voters on Tuesday Nov in Del Mar Calif AP Photo Gregory Bull Shapiro one of the nation s most of prominent Jewish elected leaders commented he s not content with specific of Mamdani s comments on Israel The New York mayor-elect a Muslim has described Israel s response to the Oct attacks as genocide against the Palestinian people and has been slow to condemn rhetoric linked to anti-Semitism I ve expressed that to him personally We ve had good private communications Shapiro commented of his concerns And I hope as he did last night in his success speech that he ll be a mayor that protects all New Yorkers and tries to bring people together Meanwhile Sanders political strategist Faiz Shakir warned Democrats against embracing cookie cutter campaigns that say nothing and do nothing a reference to centrist Democrats Spanberger and Sherrill Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey a Democrat who defeated democratic socialist Omar Fateh to win a third term revealed at a news conference Wednesday that we have to love our city more than our ideology We need to be doing everything realizable to push back on authoritarianism and what Donald Trump is doing Frey announced And at the same time the opposite of Donald Trump extremism is not the opposite extreme Democrats win everywhere Despite promising cracks in the Democratic coalition it s hard to understate the extent of the party s electoral success In Georgia two Democrats cruised to wins over Republican incumbents in elections to the state Population Amenity Commission delivering the largest statewide margins of domination by Democrats in more than years In Pennsylvania Democrats swept not only three state Supreme Court races but every county seat in presidential swing counties like Bucks and Erie Counties including sheriffs Bucks County elected its first Democratic district attorney as Democrats there also won key school board races and county judgeships Maine voters defeated a Republican-backed measure that would have mandated showing an ID at the polls Colorado approved raising taxes on people earning more than annually to fund school meal programs and food assistance for low-income state residents And California voters overwhelmingly backed a charge led by Gov Gavin Newsom to redraw its congressional map to give Democrats as multiple as five more House seats in upcoming elections Related Articles IRS Direct File won t be available next year Here s what that means for taxpayers States sue Trump administration over restrictions put on FEMA emergency grants Trump nominates former New Mexico lawmaker to lead Bureau of Land Management Congressional stalemate creates chaos for Obamacare shoppers Trump s HHS orders state Medicaid programs to help find undocumented immigrants Key groups coming back to Democrats Trump made inroads with Black and Hispanic voters in But this week Democrats scored strong performances with non-white voters in New Jersey and Virginia that offered promise About in voters in New Jersey were white according to the AP Voter Poll And Sherrill won about half that group But she made up for her relative weakness with whites with a strong showing among Black Hispanic and Asian voters The vast majority about in of Black voters supported Sherrill as did about in Asian voters Hispanic voters in New Jersey were more divided but about two-thirds supported Sherrill only about in voted for the Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli The pattern was similar in Virginia where Spanberger performed well among Black voters Hispanic voters and Asian voters even though she didn t win a majority of white voters Democrats will soon face a choice The debate over the party s future is already starting to play out in key midterm elections where Democrats have just begun intra-party primary contests The choice is stark in Maine s high-stakes Senate race where Democrats will pick from a field that features establishment favorite Gov Jan Mills and Sanders-endorsed populist Graham Platner A similar dynamic could play out in key contests across Massachusetts New York Texas and Michigan Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed who is aligned with the progressive wing of the party commented the people he speaks to are demanding bold action to address their economic concerns Folks are so frustrated by how hard its become to afford a dignified life here in Michigan and across the country he declared I m sure the corporate donors don t want us to push too hard El-Sayed continued My worry is the very same people who informed us we were just fine in will miss the mandate Associated Press reporter Mike Catalini in Newark and Joey Cappelletti in Washington contributed