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Tuesday’s “Narrow Victory” In Virginia Is A Wakeup Call For Democrats
Tuesday’s redistricting election in Virginia was a win for Democrats, but the outcome was close. Since last November’s Democratic wins for governor and in the state legislature, the state’s progressives are feeling emboldened, but it wasn’t long ago that they had an unpleasant surprise with Terry McAuliffe’s 2021 defeat by Glenn Youngkin. AOC said McAuliffe’s loss showed “the limits of trying to run a…super moderated campaign that does not excite, speak to, or energize a progressive
Latest Posts
Roll Call: Artemis II: Back to the Future
One Reason For Declining Public Trust In Higher Education
Where Are Republicans On The Filibuster?
Sweet 16 For the Affordable Care Act
Policy and Politics
Tuesday’s “Narrow Victory” In Virginia Is A Wakeup Call For Democrats
Tuesday’s redistricting election in Virginia was a win for Democrats, but the outcome was close. Since last November’s Democratic wins for governor and in the state legislature, the state’s progressives are feeling emboldened, but it wasn’t long ago that they had an unpleasant surprise with Terry McAuliffe’s 2021 defeat by
The Blue Wave Narrative And What To Watch This Fall
Democrats are getting excited at the prospect of a Blue Wave this fall, and the media seems to be joining in the hype. While Republicans had a Red Wave disappointment in 2022, Democrats had their own Blue Wave bust in 2020. On Election Night, House Democrats had a rude awakening
Newt’s World: The Winston Group on the 2026 Midterm Elections
The Winston Group’s David Winston and Myra Miller sat down recently with Newt Gingrich on his podcast Newt’s World to discuss the 2026 midterm elections, inflation and the economy, and the growing importance of independents. Listen to the podcast here.
Progress On The Economy
One of the key questions going into the midterm election will be this: have Republicans made progress on the economy? Since November of last year, we have seen the direction of economy improve slightly from 31-58 to 36-51 in January. This is still a negative view, but going in the
Are Republicans Turning The Corner On The Economy?
The newest BLS numbers for inflation and weekly wages (from December) showed that November’s positive numbers were sustained. This change has largely been as a result of decreased gas prices, and has only emerged in the last two BLS monthly reports. As seen in our most recent survey for Winning
Republicans Are Betting On A Great Economy In 2026. Is That Enough?
Republicans are facing a challenging midterm environment, but they are banking on the economy improving and larger tax refunds coming in 2026. Democrats think that they don’t have to win on the economy, but only need to be competitive on the issue. Third Way’s EVP of public affairs, Matt Bennett, told
One Reason For Declining Public Trust In Higher Education
Last week, Inside Higher Ed released its 2026 Survey of College and University Presidents. According to their findings, just 16% of presidents say institutions have been moderately, very, or extremely effective in responding to the public’s declining confidence in higher education. Nearly one in two, 47%, say they haven’t been effective at
Do Voters Believe 40% of Fourth Graders Are Below Basic In Reading?
Our last newsletter asked the question: where is the political will to address the clear challenges we are facing in education? We speculated that voters might see the problem as so challenging, they don’t know how we would begin to solve it. Or, they may not be aware of the
Where Is The Political Will On Education?
At the end of February, the assessment company NWEA released a report detailing their latest findings on learning loss recovery. The results painted a familiar picture. From their analysis of fall 2024 data, a third of schools have recovered in either math or reading, while only one in seven have
Roll Call: Blue Wave? Or Red Save?
The Winston Group’s David Winston writes in today’s Roll Call about the difficulty of predicting wave elections for either party. Yes, we’ve seen a string of GOP losses in special elections, with the media contrasting the winning percentages against President Donald Trump’s performance in 2024. But political waves are more
Roll Call: Artemis II: Back to the Future
The Winston Group’s David Winston writes in today’s Roll Call about the Artemis II and the unifying optimism of its historic lunar fly-by mission. Given the nation’s current political and ideological division (Real Clear Politics average right track/wrong track is at 34 percent/59 percent), it’s been hard to imagine what
Roll Call: Connecting The Dots On The Economy
The Winston Group’s David Winston in today’s Roll Call with the latest on the economy and what we know about how wages have changed relative to prices, gas prices, and the jobs outlook. For Trump and Republicans, however, the biggest challenge remains the economic speed bumps that continue to plague