Democrats heard a clear message in the midterm elections: Americans want tangible results, not what Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro described as “shallow litmus tests” at a conference in Denver this week. Yet as Democrats gathered to discuss their path forward ahead of taking control of the House and Senate next year, it was clear they are still debating how to deliver those results while President Trump remains in the White House.
Shapiro helped Democrats flip four House seats in Pennsylvania and spoke following an election that gave the party decisive majorities in both chambers of Congress. He said voters had rejected “chaos” and “corruption” in favor of results-oriented government. The governor urged congressional Democrats to prioritize lowering costs, expanding affordable housing, protecting consumers and creating more economic opportunity instead of pursuing ideological battles.
Shapiro, who has been discussed as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, framed the election’s message in national terms. He said the “beginning of the mandate” from voters demanded bold action on competition, AI, innovation and economic fairness. Democrats, he argued, should use their majorities to create a stronger “American bargain” for working families.
Some newly elected Democrats, including Sen.-elect James Talarico of Texas, expressed confidence that the next Congress can work with the Trump administration. Others, such as New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, urged incoming lawmakers to approach negotiations with Mr. Trump cautiously and pragmatically.
Speaking Thursday, Talarico, who won his seat in a heavily Republican state, said Democrats “must” work with President Trump because “the American people cannot wait two years for change.”
“We should make the final two years of his presidency the most productive of any presidency in American history,” Talarico said.
Sherrill, however, suggested that accomplishing that goal could prove more difficult than it sounds.
“The art of the deal to Trump is, he figures out what you want. He leverages the you-know-what out of you and keeps taking, taking, taking and never delivers. He does not follow through on his commitments,” Sherrill said, describing her experience working with him as New Jersey’s governor.
She urged Democrats to capitalize on the power they gained in the election and use their new influence to advance their priorities.
“My advice to Senator Talarico is, if Trump wants to work with us, we will lay out the agenda and he can sign it,” Sherrill said.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who won the governorship in 2025, the same year as Sherrill, also questioned whether negotiating with Mr. Trump would produce lasting results.
“It is foolish to think if you ever make a deal, if you ever give anything, you give an inch to the president, there is no reason to believe—he has no track record of ever following through—that if you make a deal with President Trump, he will ever actually abide by it,” Spanberger said.
Spanberger, a former Virginia House representative, offered the incoming Democratic majority a straightforward strategy: “Congress should pass bill after bill after bill that is broadly, very clearly popular, and is responsive to what folks across the country campaigned on, and send it to the president’s desk. No pre-negotiations, no discussions. Eventually he’ll want to do a signing ceremony. And eventually, he might sign a couple of them. And if not, then in 2028, folks say, look at these bills that passed through the House, passed through the Senate. The president didn’t take action.”
Despite the celebratory atmosphere in Denver, Democratic officials repeatedly acknowledged that last week’s victories do not amount to a permanent political realignment. They cautioned that there is no guarantee voters who backed the party will continue to do so.
“This isn’t a blank check,” Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona said. “If anything, it is a short-term loan that we need to keep paying — or we will lose it.”
