Democrats won a string of victories over the past few weeks—but party infighting threatens to distract from wins.
Why It Matters
Morale among Democrats fell after the 2024 electoral defeats and frustration with party leadership in Washington, D.C. But Democrats have been on a winning streak, racking up election wins and strong polling numbers. But recent disputes have drawn attention away from the party’s message as it works to set itself up for success in the 2026 midterm elections next November.
Democrats’ Win Big in Elections, Feud Over Shutdown
November started off strong for Democrats, with their candidates in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races overperforming polling expectations. In New Jersey, Representative Mikie Sherrill won by more than 14 points despite surveys showing a toss-up race. Former Representative Abigail Spanberger had a 15-point victory in Virginia. Other states like California and Mississippi also delivered good news for Democrats in the off-year elections.
Democrats’ celebrations, however, were cut short over infighting about the end of the government shutdown just days later.
A handful of moderate Senate Democrats voted alongside Republicans on a deal to end the shutdown. Proponents of the deal voted for it because it would allow a Senate vote on Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies set to expire at the end of the year.
But swaths of the Democratic base were irate at Democrats for voting for the bill, accusing them of caving to Republicans and failing to secure sufficient guarantees on the subsidies.
The debacle rekindled disputes about whether the current leadership needed to be replaced. Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, was among those who called for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to be ousted over the funding deal, telling NBC News the deal was the “final straw” for him. Schumer did not support the deal.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat who supported the deal, lamented the “circular firing squad” during an interview with CBS News over the weekend. She faced heckling at a Democratic event over her vote, a sign of ongoing anger from the base.
Republicans, meanwhile, touted the end of the shutdown as a victory for their party and President Donald Trump. A Fox News poll released on Wednesday showed that only 34 percent of Americans approve of congressional Democrats’ handling of the government shutdown, a lower percentage compared to Republicans in Congress (35 percent) and Trump (37 percent).
Democrats’ Win on Epstein Files, But Deal With Intraparty Feuds
Meanwhile, Democrats’ efforts to keep the focus on Trump’s handling of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who died in 2019 while awaiting sex trafficking charges, went off track this week amid several intraparty feuds.
Representative Adelita Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat, became the 218th signature on a petition to compel their release after she was sworn in last week. The issue has become a political sticking point for Trump. The president indicated on the campaign trail that he could release the Epstein files, but his administration has faced bipartisan backlash for not doing so.
Democrats have been unified in attacking the administration for not releasing the files, and the bill passed the House of Representatives and Senate this week; Trump has signed it into law, and the files could soon be released.
But Democratic infighting has distracted from that focus.
Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a centrist Washington Democrat, introduced a resolution condemning Representative Jesús García, an Illinois Democrat, for a last-minute retirement move that left his chief of staff as the only candidate on the ballot for his congressional seat.
She argued the move was undemocratic and deprived his district of having a real primary to replace him. But other Democrats slammed Gluesenkamp Perez for forcing a vote at a time when the party should have been united on its shutdown and Epstein messaging. Most Democrats voted against the resolution, with some defending García, who has said he decided not to run again due to health and family concerns.
“Going after a strong progressive Latino leader the same day that you vote for a slush fund for Republicans involved in January 6 does not scream democratic values,” Representative Delia Ramirez, an Illinois Democrat, wrote to X in response.
Democrats have also faced backlash over the Democratic nonvoting delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Stacey Plaskett, who had a text exchange with Epstein during a congressional hearing in 2019. On Thursday, Florida Democratic Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted for allegedly stealing FEMA funds—another distraction Democrats have had to face in recent days. She has said the indictment is “baseless” and that she is innocent.
Intraparty Fighting Is Distracting, But May Not Matter to Voters: Experts
These instances of infighting have taken attention away from Democrats’ good news, but it’s not clear how meaningful that will be to voters, Grant Davis Reeher, professor of political science at Syracuse University, told Newsweek.
“The left-wing attack on Democratic leadership has been fodder on the late night talk shows and has animated a lot of the cable and Internet commentary, but the real question is whether the party will be able to navigate a pretty big divide in policy positions and rhetorical emphasis going into 2028,” he said. “For 2026, there seems to be every indication that there will be the traditional loss of support for the party of the president, and the scale of that loss may rival 2018.”
In the midterms, Democrats can offer “different brands of themselves” across various districts. The 2028 election won’t “offer that luxury,” he said.
This isn’t likely to be a huge concern for Democrats in the midterms unless the narrative becomes that they are “incompetent” or “hopelessly fractured,” he said, noting that Republicans are also having problems with their brand.
“The Internet chatter on these kinds of things is still driven by the legacy media, for the most part,” he said.
Robert Y. Shapiro, professor of political science at Columbia University, told Newsweek it’s too early to know the impact of this on the midterms.
“There are hard feelings about those Democrats who voted to pass the CR and end the shutdown, and the battle now goes to the debate about health care subsidies and how the Trump administration’s cuts in SNAP and Medicaid, and continuing attention to the mass deportations that the administration is attempting,” he said.
What People Are Saying
Representative Marie Gluessenkamp Perez wrote on X after the vote on her resolution: “I got my ass handed to me yesterday in debate, but I am profoundly encouraged to have been a small part of the long work of affirming that in America, we choose our leaders. Thank you to the 22 Democrats who stood with me.”
Representative Greg Meeks told Punchbowl News of the resolution: “Coming after Epstein and right after the Democratic Party being united and winning a big victory on Election Day. It beats me. I have no clue what that was all about.”
Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko wrote on X as the Senate considered the bill to end the shutdown: “If you need confirmation Senate Democrats are f****** this whole thing up here you go. Excellent way to destroy the enthusiasm with huge Dem wins throughout the country up and down the ballot that were not even one week ago.”
What Happens Next
Despite these potential distractions, polling for the midterms has been good for Democrats this week. A survey released by NPR, PBS News and Marist University showed the party with its largest lead over Republicans in eight years.
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