Democrats have stacked up a notable run of victories in recent weeks, lifting spirits after the party’s losses in the 2024 elections and deepening frustration with leadership in Washington. Strong off-year election performances and encouraging polling have offered a clear opening as Democrats look ahead to the 2026 midterms next November.
But that momentum has been repeatedly interrupted by intraparty clashes—disputes that, at least for now, are pulling attention away from the party’s broader argument against President Donald Trump and Republicans.
Election gains overshadowed by shutdown fight
November began on a high note for Democrats. Their candidates in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races outperformed expectations. In New Jersey, Representative Mikie Sherrill won by more than 14 points even though pre-election surveys suggested a toss-up. In Virginia, former Representative Abigail Spanberger cruised to a 15-point win. Democrats also logged positive results in states including California and Mississippi.
The celebration didn’t last long. Days later, Democrats were thrown into a bitter internal fight over a deal to end the government shutdown. A small group of moderate Senate Democrats joined Republicans to back the agreement, arguing it would pave the way for a Senate vote on Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at year’s end.
Many Democratic voters saw it differently. Large parts of the base accused the moderates of folding to Republicans without securing iron-clad guarantees on the subsidies. The backlash revived long-running arguments about party leadership. Representative Ro Khanna called for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to step aside over the episode, describing the deal as a “final straw,” even though Schumer himself opposed it.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who voted for the agreement, later criticized what she called a “circular firing squad,” after facing boos at a Democratic event. Republicans framed the shutdown’s end as a win for their side, and a recent Fox News poll suggested Democrats took a hit publicly: only 34 percent of Americans approved of congressional Democrats’ handling of the shutdown, compared with 35 percent for Republicans in Congress and 37 percent for Trump.
Epstein files win complicated by fresh feuds
Democrats also had a major moment this week pressing the administration to release records connected to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who died in 2019 while awaiting sex-trafficking charges. Representative Adelita Grijalva became the 218th signer on a discharge petition to force disclosure, putting pressure on a White House that had faced bipartisan criticism for refusing to release the files despite Trump’s campaign-trail hints that he would.
Democrats largely stayed aligned in their push, and legislation compelling release passed both chambers. Trump has now signed it, meaning the files could be made public soon.
Still, the party’s internal drama again shifted the spotlight. Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez introduced a resolution condemning Representative Jesús García for a late retirement decision that left his chief of staff as the sole candidate on the ballot to replace him. She argued the move short-circuited a genuine primary.
Many Democrats were furious at the timing, saying the party should have stayed unified around the shutdown fallout and the Epstein issue. Most voted down the resolution, and some defended García, who has cited health and family reasons for stepping aside. Representative Delia Ramirez blasted the effort, saying it targeted a prominent progressive Latino leader at a moment when Democrats needed cohesion.
Democrats were also forced to answer questions about Stacey Plaskett, the nonvoting delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands, who exchanged texts with Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing. On top of that, Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida was indicted on allegations of stealing FEMA funds—charges she says are baseless. Each controversy added another distraction during a stretch when Democrats want attention fixed on Trump and Republican governance.
Will voters care?
Political scientists say the infighting is real—but may not end up mattering much electorally. Grant Davis Reeher of Syracuse University said the online and cable-news storm over leadership fights is loud, but the key challenge is whether Democrats can manage a deep policy and messaging divide heading into 2028.
For 2026, Reeher said, history still suggests the president’s party is likely to lose ground in midterms, possibly on a scale similar to 2018. Democrats can adapt to different districts with different styles of candidates, he noted, a flexibility they won’t have in a national presidential race. Unless the party comes to be seen as “incompetent” or permanently broken, he argued, the damage may be limited—especially since Republicans are also wrestling with their own identity problems.
Columbia University’s Robert Y. Shapiro agreed it’s too early to judge the fallout. He said the bitterness over the shutdown vote could linger, but the next political battlefield will be over health-care subsidies and the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to SNAP and Medicaid, along with continued debate over mass deportations.
The mood inside the party
After the resolution vote, Gluesenkamp Perez posted that she lost the debate badly but felt encouraged by the principle at stake, and thanked the 22 Democrats who supported her. Representative Greg Meeks questioned the move’s logic, saying it made little sense after a day of unified Democratic victories. Strategist Adam Parkhomenko warned that Senate Democrats risked squandering post-election enthusiasm by mishandling the shutdown fight.
What’s next
Despite the turbulence, Democrats may still be positioned well for the midterms. New polling from NPR, PBS News and Marist University shows Democrats holding their largest advantage over Republicans in eight years—suggesting that even with internal battles, the broader political environment may still be tilting in their favor.
