WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, New Democrat Coalition Action Fund Chair Brad Schneider and New Democrat Coalition Chair Suzan DelBene held a press call on the critical role NewDem candidates and Members have played in the 2022 House races.
So far, NewDems have flipped six seats from red to blue with NewDem-endorsed candidates Hillary Scholten (MI-03), Greg Landsman (OH-01), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Wiley Nickel (NC-13), and Gabe Vasquez (NM-02), and NewDem Member Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34). NewDems also picked up a critical win in NC-14 with the new-seat victory of Jeff Jackson (NC-14). On top of that, at least 15 NewDem candidates will be joining the New Democrat Coalition in the 118th Congress alongside 16 NewDem Frontline Members who have won their highly competitive races. There are still more races to be called.
You can find a transcript of the press call with remarks from NewDem Action Fund Chair Brad Schneider and New Democrat Coalition Chair Suzan DelBene below:
NewDem Action Fund Chair Brad Schneider’s Remarks:
“I’m Brad Schneider, I am the Chair of the New Democrat Coalition Action Fund, which is our arm dedicated to electing and protecting Members of the House New Democrat Coalition. And that’s what we did last night.
“That was our focus, really for the last, more than a year, and I think we achieved some significant accomplishments last evening.
“First, there was no red wave. Despite severe headwinds, the New Dems and the House Democrats in general exceeded expectations. We as New Dems, we’re excited. We flipped, so far, five seats from red to blue. That's the most of any other Democratic caucus. And we protected the vast majority of our Frontline Members. And so far we have elected 14 NewDem candidates to Congress. They'll be joining us in January.
“So one of the clear takeaways from this election is I think that Americans want a mainstream party that is focused on finding common sense solutions to their kitchen table issues. A party that they can identify with and they feel identifies with them and their concerns.
“NewDems delivered that vision to voters last night and we will plan to do so again in the next election in ‘24. Voters didn't just send this message last night. During the cycle’s primaries, Democrats overwhelmingly chose moderate, mainstream candidates with 77% of NewDem candidates winning their primaries. Democrats who could relate to the issues that voters were facing.
“In contrast, in stark contrast, the Trump-backed candidates dominated Republican primaries, ousting the few moderate Republicans that are left and who dared to buck former President Trump and run for reelection.
“So here's one of the key takeaways in my mind. Last night, voters rejected extremists candidates and embraced mainstream Democratic candidates.
“Our victories were in large part due to the success of our NewDems and the work of our NewDem Action Fund. And NewDem candidates focused on the issues Americans care about, from lowering costs, to fighting crime, protecting our fundamental freedoms and defending our American democracy. Importantly, our candidates separated themselves from a crowd and were able to stand out, stand up.
“This cycle, our NewDem Action Fund did more than ever before to protect our incumbents and elect NewDem candidates in seats across the country – from true blue seats like Congressman-elect Morgan McGarvey in Kentucky to reddish or redder seats like here in my home state of Illinois, Congresswoman-elect Nikki Budzinski.
“The NewDem Action Fund set up our first independent expenditure, and we helped protect Reps. Haley Stevens, Shontel Brown, and Sean Casten in their primaries, and they worked hard and were victorious last night.
“We invested in a full-time communications coach to help our Members and our candidates learn how to better communicate their best messages in a way that resonates with voters.
“And we spent a lot on research to help our candidates and Members better understand the state of their races. How to compete, how to communicate, and ultimately how to win. And, we’re just getting started.
“In the 2024 cycle, we’re gonna double our efforts and expand on our model. But we also recognize, despite our victories, we had some very hard losses, and we lost some very good friends. We learned some important lessons in this process.
“First, we know that candidates matter. In race after race, voters chose the mainstream Democrat over the extreme Republican, even though the polling shows we have to work on our party brand.
“It's a fact that Democrats are better for the economy and we're the only party with a clear plan to fight crime and gun violence and keep our community safe. Despite this, however, polling showed voters do not fully trust the Democrats as much as the Republicans on issues like the economy or public safety and that's why ahead of the next election, we have to learn the lessons of this past election, come together as a party and solidify a winning agenda.
“Some of the things that I think we need to do is first, connect with voters where they are. Show that we share their values, that we understand what their life is like, their challenges, because we face the same challenges in our own lives, we are like them.
“Second, we need to demonstrate that we have a vision for an economy that's creating opportunities, that is raising the standard of living, and giving all Americans the prospect of a bright future for themselves and their families. And that's the Democratic vision that's going to take them where they ultimately want to get to.
“And third, we need to show that we share their concerns whether it's public safety, fighting crime, fighting inflation, you name it, the issues affecting families across the country, what they talk about when they sit down at their kitchen table or just gathered talking among friends are issues that we're working on, because we share those things. And I think that's how we're going to distinguish ourselves.
“So as NewDems look forward to leading the effort to put our party in a position to win in ‘24, I look forward to working with my colleagues, and one of those who I've enjoyed working with the past two years as our Chair of the New Democrat Coalition is Suzan DelBene.
“So let me turn it over to her. We'll talk a little bit more about what's at stake if our message fails to break through in 2024.”
NDC Chair Suzan DelBene’s Remarks:
“Thanks Brad! Thanks everyone, I’m Suzan DelBene and first I want to join Brad in congratulating our NewDem candidates and Members on their victories, and I especially just want to thank Brad for his leadership as the NewDem Action Fund Chair. He has done a tremendous job– he’s been supporting NewDems throughout a difficult cycle and we are very excited to welcome new Members to our Coalition.
“There’s a lot that we’ve learned from this cycle, and one of them again is how important New Dems are to not only the Democratic Party, to Congress, and ultimately to American democracy.
“NewDems have defeated extremist Republican candidates from New Hampshire to Texas and out to the West Coast and as Brad said, our goal is to win general elections so that we can govern for the American people.
“People want to see governance work. If we don’t win elections, we put our Democracy and frankly all of the great legislative progress that we’ve made in the last two years– all of that progress at risk.
“So this Congress, NewDems played a central role in getting bipartisan legislation across the finish line and from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to the CHIPS and Science Act. Democrats were able to run – and WIN – on a mainstream agenda that Americans broadly support.
No matter the final results, we’ll continue this work to deliver for our communities in the 118th Congress.
“And we know it will be a closely divided Congress, so our Members are crucial for legislative efforts to be successful. We know how important it is to work with others– including Republicans– to achieve real results for our constituents. As I said, Americans want to see governance work, they don’t want a dysfunctional government.
“And when necessary we also stand up strong for our principles, for our values, and fight dangerous ideas that hurt working families or would weaken our democracy.
“Americans definitely told us last night that they want elected leaders who will work to solve kitchen table issues, and frankly that’s what NewDems have always done and what we will continue to do. We’re doers.
“At the same time, as Brad said, Democrats can’t rest on our laurels. We won last night thanks to the strength of our candidates and our campaigns. We definitely faced headwinds because of extremes and we’ve had folks saying you don’t go far enough or you’re going too far– we just have to have an honest discussion about how we move forward and continue to earn voters’ trust on key issues like the economy and public safety, and NewDems are prepared to lead this effort.
“Frankly, we have led that effort with our Action Plan to Fight Inflation that we had released, the work we’ve done on legislation to support public safety, so this is work that we will continue to do.
“We are really focused on making sure that we deliver for Americans, because in the end that’s what makes a difference for our communities and puts us all in a better position as we look towards the future.
“Extremist Republicans have shown us that we can’t really trust them to focus on upholding our democracy or elections– and the threat to working families and our democracy has been real. The stakes are really high.
“Looking ahead, we are going to embrace the diversity that we have in our coalition, the diversity we have in our party, advance a clear and consistent economic message, and work to elect mainstream, pragmatic leaders who can defend and win competitive races.
That’s how we help families by getting things done and that’s also how we protect our democracy. NewDems will continue to lead the way.”
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