Ezra Klein Says Democrats' 'Electoral Lessons' Lie Beyond Their Left Flank

Ezra Klein, the New York Times columnist and host of The Ezra Klein Show, told Democrats on Wednesday not to read their midterm wave as a win for the party's left flank. He said its more progressive Senate nominees ran behind the national environment, even though most of them won.

The warning came in a post-election episode in which Klein was interviewed by his editor, Aaron Retica. Klein credited the night to candidates who "fit" their states, like Adam Hamilton in Kansas, James Talarico in Texas and Annie Andrews in South Carolina. Then he set four other Democrats apart, including Troy Jackson in Maine. In Klein's characterization, Jackson's win "looks closer than you would expect given the demographics of Maine," though he noted the race was complicated by the Graham Platner situation.

"I don't think the place you want to look for electoral lessons is Abdul El-Sayed, is Peggy Flanagan, is Angie Nixon, is Troy Jackson," Klein said.

Ezra Klein on El-Sayed, Flanagan and Nixon

Klein said the environment was about 13 points in Democrats' favor. As of Wednesday, PolitiKool's polling average of the generic congressional ballot had Democrats ahead by 8.9 points.

In Minnesota, Flanagan won 53.7 percent to Michele Tafoya's 43.6 percent with nearly all the expected vote counted, NBC News results show. "Minnesota, Democratic plus 13, it's not a good performance, right?" Klein said.

In Michigan, El-Sayed led Republican Mike Rogers 52.5 percent to 45.5 percent with about 97.5 percent of the expected vote in, according to NBC News. In Florida, Senator Ashley Moody beat Nixon, whom Klein called "a more direct DSA candidate," 50.8 percent to 47.9 percent, WUSF reported.

By contrast, Roy Cooper won North Carolina by about 20 points, 58.7 percent to 39.1 percent, and Jon Ossoff won Georgia 59 percent to 41 percent, NBC News results show.

'They Didn't Do Terribly'

Retica pushed back, saying progressive candidates bring "imagination" and ideas to the party. "They didn't do as well as the less left candidates, but they didn't do terribly either," he said.

"No, I don't think they did terribly," Klein replied. He said El-Sayed in particular is "gonna be a superstar," and called the effort against the Michigan nominee "grotesque": "I found what they tried to do to El-Sayed reprehensible."

He said the point was strategy, not worth. "Sometimes people take statements about electoral performance as moral statements about the worth of a candidate," Klein said. "Or the ideas, that's crazy in my view."

On Florida, he split the blame between the state party and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, saying the national committee had underinvested. But "I don't think there's any reason to look at the results and say it was a brilliant strategic move to run the DSA candidate in Florida," he said.

The Raw Margins Complicate the Picture

The raw margins do not settle the question. Hamilton beat Senator Roger Marshall 51 percent to 46 percent in Kansas, and Andrews beat Senator Darline Graham 51.1 percent to 46.7 percent in South Carolina, NBC News results show. Both margins are narrower than El-Sayed's. Talarico won Texas 55.1 percent to 43 percent, according to NBC News.

Klein's argument rests on where those races were run and who ran in them. On Florida, he granted part of the counterpoint on air: "Florida is winnable if you have the right candidates in the right environment."

He also said "fit" does not just mean moderate. Andrews ran on "quite progressive views on healthcare," Klein said, and "James Talarico should correctly be understood as a fairly progressive candidate, but he moved right on oil and gas, and he also moved right on border security."

Jared Golden's Seat as a Warning

Klein's sharpest example came from the House. Representative Jared Golden, the Maine Democrat who is retiring and whom Klein called the most conservative House Democrat, faced a challenge from his left by Matt Dunlap, a more progressive challenger, and then decided to retire. Klein said Golden "was done with it, he was tired of it." Golden held the Trump-won seat in 2024 by fewer than 3,000 votes after ranked-choice tabulation, the Bangor Daily News reported.

This week, former Governor Paul LePage led Dunlap 49.9 percent to 48.8 percent with about 93 percent of votes counted and declared victory, the Bangor Daily News reported. The race had not been called.

"Jared Golden was like a most valuable player for the Democrats," Klein said. "He is a kind of person you want in the party and you should protect."

What Comes Next for Democrats

Klein said holding new seats in Kansas, and possibly Mississippi, would take the same approach in later cycles. "That doesn't just mean moderating," he said, "but it does mean recognizing that you need these candidates who are right for their states, right for their districts."