The woman who Democrats are counting on to end the GOP trifecta in 2026

By Michael Jones

Millions of Americans across more than 2,000 cities participated this weekend in the coordinated “No Kings” protests—an unprecedented nationwide show of resistance to what organizers describe as the authoritarian drift of President Donald Trump’s second term.

But mass mobilization is only the first step. The real challenge now is converting protest energy into precinct-level organizing, especially in swing districts where Republican tax policy, health care cuts, and anti-democratic measures are most acutely felt. If Democrats can localize the stakes, the movement could become more than symbolic defiance—it could spark a sustained campaign to reclaim power.

That’s where Rep. Suzan DelBene comes in. As chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, DelBene is tasked with recruiting and supporting candidates to take back the House in 2026.

“I actually think the things that make a great candidate [in 2026] are the same things that made a great candidate before, too,” she told me in an interview in the U.S. Capitol last week. “Folks want people who understand what’s happening on the ground at home, and are coming back to Washington, D.C. to fight for them to get things done.”

DelBene, who represents Washington’s 1st Congressional District and serves on the House Ways and Means Committee—where she’s championed policies like the expanded Child Tax Credit that helped cut childhood poverty in 2021—led House Democrats’ campaign arm in 2024. Last November, the party outperformed expectations despite a tough national environment.

Still, Democrats gained two seats overall, expanded the diversity of the caucus, and reduced the GOP majority to its slimmest margin in nearly a century. They held onto almost all of their vulnerable incumbents, flipped 10 GOP-held seats—including four in New York and three in California—and denied Republicans the sweeping governing mandate they claimed voters had entrusted them with.

The performance prompted House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to reappoint DelBene as DCCC chair for 2026, giving her the chance to finish the job of winning back the majority.

With Democrats just six seats shy of the majority, DelBene aims to build on that momentum.

During a recent caucus meeting at DCCC headquarters, she presented research showing that the GOP’s sweeping reconciliation bill—a “megabill” to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, increase defense and border spending, and enact historic cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP—is backfiring politically. Voters are increasingly turning against it as they learn more.

Independent analysis shows the legislation would strip health coverage from 16 million Americans, slash food assistance programs like free school lunch, and overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy. Internal and public polling alike suggest the bill is politically toxic: Just 31 percent of voters believe it would help their family, while majorities say it rewards the rich and hurts working families.

DelBene also pointed to growing protest activity—outside district offices, at town halls, and in cities across the country—especially over Medicaid and nutrition cuts and the Trump administration’s mass deportation operations.

She argued that the bill’s unpopularity has pushed vulnerable Republicans into defending it with lies.

“They can lie all they want, but there’s no denying the objective harm it will cause,” she said. “With this vote, vulnerable House Republicans have already sealed their political fate.”

But while the upcoming 2026 midterms shares some structural similarities to the 2018 midterms, especially as they both are considered referendums on Trump’s presidency, the political terrain and public mood are markedly different.

For one, Trump’s presidency is no longer new. Eight years ago, voters were reacting to a political disruption. This time, they’ll be judging a second act that carries less shock and more accumulated experience (and trauma) to draw from. That may sharpen Democratic arguments but dull novelty-based turnout.

In 2018, Republicans controlled the White House and Congress. In 2026, barring unforeseen circumstances, the GOP will continue to hold a firm grip on the Supreme Court—and enjoys a more compliant Congress. That could either intensify voter urgency or deepen feelings of disempowerment, particularly among those who believe an unelected conservative supermajority undercuts their votes.

Then there’s the state of the Democratic Party itself. The coalition is still recovering from losing unified control in 2024. Internal tensions between moderates and progressives, frustrations with party strategy, and doubts about the party’s effectiveness could weigh on turnout and candidate recruitment in ways that weren’t present in the more unified, energized 2018 cycle.

And while Democrats are comfortable running as the party of opposition, some members privately worry the party hasn’t done enough to articulate a compelling affirmative vision that clarifies what they’re fighting against and for.

History offers some comfort, though. The president’s party usually loses seats in the midterms. And just as Republicans were punished in 2018 for trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Democrats believe the GOP megabill—cutting Medicaid and SNAP to pay for tax cuts—sits on similarly unpopular terrain. The expectation is that Trump’s polarizing agenda will prove just as potent an organizing tool as it was in his first term.

If DelBene succeeds, it won’t just be by recruiting top-tier challengers. She’ll also need to help Democrats in competitive and Republican-leaning districts—the DCCC’s frontline members—hang on.

“The number one thing we hear across the country is how important it is that people are fighting to lower costs for working families,” DelBene told me. “While Republicans are cutting taxes for billionaires, we have members of Congress in swing districts who are fighting for their communities every day and standing up for their communities every day….That’s why they won in tough districts—and why they’ll continue to win in tough districts.”

But as last week’s federal indictment of Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) for forcibly impeding ICE officers, the forcible removal of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) by Secret Service agents during a press conference led by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and the killings of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband over the weekend all show—it’s as dangerous a time as ever to serve in public office.

DelBene acknowledged the many people who want to step up and run for office to help check the Trump administration. But she also stressed the importance of public service at all levels—from city halls to Congress, especially to defend vulnerable communities.

“It’s also really important that people are engaged and involved. They understand what’s happening in the community. They’re using their voices to stand up for policies that are critically important and programs that are important to their communities,” DelBene said. “That’s going to make a difference in elections, too. So being engaged, involved, and using your voice.”

Michael Jones is an independent Capitol Hill correspondent and contributor for COURIER. He is the author of Once Upon a Hill, a newsletter about Congressional politics.