A seminarian and a socialist can save the Democratic Party
Photo via Reuters
PHOENIX VU: If there is one thing Americans can agree on, it’s that they do not like the Democratic Party right now. As Democrats desperately navigate having their worst favorability rating in thirty years, two state lawmakers offer a way out.
Religion and politics are commonly intertwined in the Texas legislature, but state representative James Talarico has a different interpretation of the gospel. The Presbyterian seminarian has gone viral for reciting scripture to oppose conservative policies and garnered national attention as a fresh face in Democratic politics. In New York City, Zohran Mamdani has evoked an even greater level of national attention as he runs for mayor. In only a few months, the Muslim assemblyman has garnered support with his creative campaigning and attracted opposition to his Democratic Socialist views.
Despite seeming drastically different on paper, both men have found great success in understanding that Americans vote with their wallets.
President Joe Biden tried to convince voters in 2024 that the economy was healthy, despite most Americans feeling the opposite to be true. Democrats spent too much time telling voters that they were wrong to be upset about the economy and too little time trying to learn why voters were upset in the first place.
Mamdani doesn’t need to convince people that New York City is unaffordable– 80% of the city’s voters already do. Mamdani only needs to convince voters that he is the man best suited to solve the issue, and based on his victory in the Democratic primary, his narrative seems to be working.
In every video, sign, sticker and speech, Mamdani relentlessly focuses on affordability. His platform around freezing rent, free childcare and free buses centers around affordability. In his campaign announcement video, he quickly glosses over the juicy indictment of the current mayor to talk about affordability. When pressed on his qualifications during the June mayoral debate, what did Mamdani pivot back to? Affordability.
While Mamdani is finding solutions for pocketbook issues, James Talarico believes there is something fundamentally wrong with the system. “Our economy is broken. Our politics are broken,” he argues, and it’s the billionaires who destroyed it by gutting healthcare and defunding schools to cut taxes for themselves and their rich friends.
Talarico appeals to the country’s underlying Sisyphean feeling that we are no longer moving towards progress. Three-quarters of Americans across political parties believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. Clearly, something is broken. The American dream seems more and more like a fantasy than an achievable goal.
As it turns out, attacking billionaires is popular across ideologies. Despite having drastically different policies and audiences, both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump find popularity in creating an enemy out of the elite, whether it be the Ivy-educated deep state or the billionaire oligarchy. Democrats needing to grow their coalition should prioritize one of the few issues that can still transcend partisanship.
Rather than admit that the system is flawed, Democrats have become defenders of the status quo after the Trump administration's conquest of all political norms and institutions. This is an understandable reflex, but in doing so, they came to protect a system that many Americans believe did not work in the first place. “This democracy of ours… doesn’t work for a lot of people in Texas,” Talarico told Politico, “And I’m not interested in defending it.”
Clouded by nostalgia for a pre-Trump past, Democrats lack a vision for the future. James Talarico has a vision for Texas, “We should treat our southern border like our front porch. We should have a giant welcome mat out front, and we should have the lock on the door”. Zohran Mamdani has a vision for New York City, “It’s time to make halal eight bucks again”.
Talarico raised $6.2 million in only the first three weeks of his 2026 Senate campaign to unseat John Cornyn. Mamdani delivered a stunning upset to become the Democratic nominee for NYC mayor, despite being virtually unknown a year ago. This is not to say the winning strategy for Democrats is to send Chuck Schumer to a halal cart, but that the party should take notes from the local lawmakers who acknowledge voters’ struggles and have a clear plan to address them.
Democratic mayors and state lawmakers across the country continue to pass policies and deliver for their constituents. They already have the ideas, strategies and messaging that can win. Are other Democrats willing to listen?
Phoenix Vu is a columnist for On the Record and a Master of Public Policy student from Arkansas. He previously worked in politics and policy at the state and local level.