The rural Democrats who say their party has affordability all wrong
This is performative politics again.
Most Democrats think their key to winning back control of Congress in the midterms will be selling voters on an affordability agenda and bashing President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy.
But some in their party — running long-shot campaigns in rural regions against Republican incumbents — say all the affordability talk has lost the plot.
“Democrats on a national level have discovered ‘affordability’ as a winning strategy, as some magic bullet that's going to win them elections all over the country,” Hallie Shoffner, who won the Democratic Senate primary in Arkansas earlier this week, told POLITICO in an interview.
“Established D.C Democrats like [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer [are] talking about affordability, and I'm sorry, but everybody in Arkansas is going to give him the side eye, because what does he know about affordability?” she added.
A spokesperson for Schumer said in a statement that he “knows that working families are being crushed by higher costs because of Donald Trump’s failed policies and his corrupt bargain with big corporations. That’s why Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats have been fighting to lower costs for people on everything from housing to energy to health care.”
After stinging defeats in 2024, Democrats bounced back in 2025’s off-year elections when Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sailed to victory, each behind a campaign that centered on pocketbook issues and sought to frame Democrats as the party that could bring down prices for everyday Americans.
Now, party leaders want to ride that messaging into November amid falling approval of Trump’s handling of the economy. Spanberger was a special guest at House Democrats’ annual retreat last week, where she gave her advice for how to hammer an affordability message just one day after she skewered Trump over cost-of-living concerns during the Democratic rebuttal to his State of the Union address. And Republicans are increasingly worried that the outlook on the economy is weakening amid rising gas prices stemming from the war in Iran.
But some rural Democrats still aren’t convinced that the party is striking the right tone.
“It feels disingenuous,” said Callie Barr, who is running to flip Michigan’s 1st Congressional District.
“The standard of living for most folks in rural areas like mine has been declining for the past 40 years under both administrations,” Barr said. “And then all of a sudden, it's like, ‘Oh, affordability is now a talking point, maybe I can win an election off of it, I'm going to start using it in everything.’”
Barr and Shoffner said they hope to see national Democrats put the money where their mouth is by investing in “long-shot” races like theirs. “My hope is …
This is performative politics again.
Most Democrats think their key to winning back control of Congress in the midterms will be selling voters on an affordability agenda and bashing President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy.
But some in their party — running long-shot campaigns in rural regions against Republican incumbents — say all the affordability talk has lost the plot.
“Democrats on a national level have discovered ‘affordability’ as a winning strategy, as some magic bullet that's going to win them elections all over the country,” Hallie Shoffner, who won the Democratic Senate primary in Arkansas earlier this week, told POLITICO in an interview.
“Established D.C Democrats like [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer [are] talking about affordability, and I'm sorry, but everybody in Arkansas is going to give him the side eye, because what does he know about affordability?” she added.
A spokesperson for Schumer said in a statement that he “knows that working families are being crushed by higher costs because of Donald Trump’s failed policies and his corrupt bargain with big corporations. That’s why Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats have been fighting to lower costs for people on everything from housing to energy to health care.”
After stinging defeats in 2024, Democrats bounced back in 2025’s off-year elections when Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sailed to victory, each behind a campaign that centered on pocketbook issues and sought to frame Democrats as the party that could bring down prices for everyday Americans.
Now, party leaders want to ride that messaging into November amid falling approval of Trump’s handling of the economy. Spanberger was a special guest at House Democrats’ annual retreat last week, where she gave her advice for how to hammer an affordability message just one day after she skewered Trump over cost-of-living concerns during the Democratic rebuttal to his State of the Union address. And Republicans are increasingly worried that the outlook on the economy is weakening amid rising gas prices stemming from the war in Iran.
But some rural Democrats still aren’t convinced that the party is striking the right tone.
“It feels disingenuous,” said Callie Barr, who is running to flip Michigan’s 1st Congressional District.
“The standard of living for most folks in rural areas like mine has been declining for the past 40 years under both administrations,” Barr said. “And then all of a sudden, it's like, ‘Oh, affordability is now a talking point, maybe I can win an election off of it, I'm going to start using it in everything.’”
Barr and Shoffner said they hope to see national Democrats put the money where their mouth is by investing in “long-shot” races like theirs. “My hope is …
The rural Democrats who say their party has affordability all wrong
This is performative politics again.
Most Democrats think their key to winning back control of Congress in the midterms will be selling voters on an affordability agenda and bashing President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy.
But some in their party — running long-shot campaigns in rural regions against Republican incumbents — say all the affordability talk has lost the plot.
“Democrats on a national level have discovered ‘affordability’ as a winning strategy, as some magic bullet that's going to win them elections all over the country,” Hallie Shoffner, who won the Democratic Senate primary in Arkansas earlier this week, told POLITICO in an interview.
“Established D.C Democrats like [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer [are] talking about affordability, and I'm sorry, but everybody in Arkansas is going to give him the side eye, because what does he know about affordability?” she added.
A spokesperson for Schumer said in a statement that he “knows that working families are being crushed by higher costs because of Donald Trump’s failed policies and his corrupt bargain with big corporations. That’s why Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats have been fighting to lower costs for people on everything from housing to energy to health care.”
After stinging defeats in 2024, Democrats bounced back in 2025’s off-year elections when Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sailed to victory, each behind a campaign that centered on pocketbook issues and sought to frame Democrats as the party that could bring down prices for everyday Americans.
Now, party leaders want to ride that messaging into November amid falling approval of Trump’s handling of the economy. Spanberger was a special guest at House Democrats’ annual retreat last week, where she gave her advice for how to hammer an affordability message just one day after she skewered Trump over cost-of-living concerns during the Democratic rebuttal to his State of the Union address. And Republicans are increasingly worried that the outlook on the economy is weakening amid rising gas prices stemming from the war in Iran.
But some rural Democrats still aren’t convinced that the party is striking the right tone.
“It feels disingenuous,” said Callie Barr, who is running to flip Michigan’s 1st Congressional District.
“The standard of living for most folks in rural areas like mine has been declining for the past 40 years under both administrations,” Barr said. “And then all of a sudden, it's like, ‘Oh, affordability is now a talking point, maybe I can win an election off of it, I'm going to start using it in everything.’”
Barr and Shoffner said they hope to see national Democrats put the money where their mouth is by investing in “long-shot” races like theirs. “My hope is …
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