Democrats are starting the new year on a high.
A series of 2025 victories was marked by a striking improvement over the party’s 2024 showing for presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
That’s a strong signal ahead of the midterm election, suggesting Democratic partisans are energized and the party is winning support among independents and perhaps even a few disaffected Republicans.
If history is a guide and the uneven economy a portent, Democrats will very likely seize control of the House in November, picking up at least the three seats needed to erase the GOP’s bare majority. The Senate looks to be a longer — though not impossible — reach, given the Republican lean of the states being contested.
Democrats are in much better shape than all the black crepe and existential ideations suggested a year ago.