‘We need to get to work’: Democrats debate what to do with their midterm mandate

Democrats came out of Tuesday's midterms with victories across the map, and the party is now arguing over what produced them and what to do with the power. The winners offer different recipes. Abdul El-Sayed, who won a Michigan Senate seat, ran on Medicare for All and criticized spending on Israel and the Gaza war. James Talarico, a seminarian, won in Texas by mixing religious language with border enforcement. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, reelected by 20 points, stressed bipartisan pragmatism and says voters simply want people to listen to them, according to CNN.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, seen as a possible 2028 candidate, urged the party to move fast on a legislative package built around broadly popular ideas: a higher minimum wage, expanded Medicaid and child tax credit, and limits on money in politics and gerrymandering. He wants those introduced as a rapid series of bills to challenge the White House. Sen. Elizabeth Warren favors pushing measures on health care, tax fairness, child care and surveillance pricing, even with Trump, whose term has two years left. Rep. Adam Gray warned that voters will turn on Democrats too if daily life doesn't improve.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CNN’s reporting. Read the full story at CNN →