The Democratic National Committee thinks it knows what to focus on to reach voters in battleground districts ahead of the November midterm elections, in which control of Congress is at stake. 

To get to that answer, volunteers spent the first half of this year making nearly a half-million calls to disaffected voters who pulled the lever in 2020 for Democrats but didn’t show up in 2024. They targeted people from their list of 61 battleground Congressional districts that could determine whether Democrats retake the House majority.

Of those calls, the DNC says volunteers had conversations with almost 10,000 people. And the top issue for those voters is the same thing cited by respondents in repeated public opinion polls. According to an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the findings before they were released, it also did not really surprise people inside the DNC. 

That issue? The rising cost of living.  

As one Iowa voter put it: “Healthcare sucks. The cost of living sucks. It all needs to be better.” 

As one Iowa voter put it: “Healthcare sucks. The cost of living sucks. It all needs to be better.” 

A DNC spokesperson said its “Local Listeners Program” — which had volunteers call voters between January and June of this year — helps to validate and encourage what campaigns are already spending a lot of money and energy on. The findings also shed light on what may motivate those disaffected voters to head to the polls in November.

Other top issues cited by those the DNC talked to were the war with Iran, “Trump administration overreach” and “attacks on healthcare.”

The analysis, which was shared with MS NOW exclusively ahead of its presentation at the party’s summer meeting in Austin, Texas, on Thursday afternoon, was accompanied by pages of quotes pulled from the individual conversations. 

Party officials plan to share the findings with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, as well as individual campaigns, to inform messaging and strategy in the midterm elections.

Those calls and meetings are expected to start next week and the hope, according to the DNC spokesperson, is to see the research show up in get-out-the-vote materials, digital ads, volunteer scripts and paid media.  

The frustration and pain of respondents showed up in the calls. But it is unclear why the party did not share information from the project as it was responding to criticism of its much-maligned DNC 2024 autopsy. It was also unclear, from the data provided, why exactly this group chose to not vote in 2024.  

For example, there is no mention in the materials provided of whether the lapsed voters brought up Israel or Gaza, a fraught 2024 election issue.

No information was shared with MS NOW about why these voters did not participate in the last election cycle. A DNC official said the project was “focused on how voters are feeling right now and what would make them likely to vote in the 2026 midterms.” 

He continued, “During each conversation, volunteers asked voters about what is on their minds, how they’re feeling about the direction of the country, whether they are planning to vote in the midterms, what they’re looking for from candidates and what it would take to earn their vote.”

What stands out from the information shared was how difficult life is for many of the people the DNC volunteers spoke with.  

From Washington state: “I think the regular person is suffering right now. Social services are not being funded properly, and the cost of gas is going up. Our access to proper food and housing is not proper or correct. People are really suffering.”

To Nevada: “Affordability is not a hoax, grocery prices are ridiculous.”

To Michigan: “They have to put money into Americans, not foreign wars, so our families can eat. They don’t know how to be poor, what that’s like. What happens to us when food stamps get cut.”

To New York: “In our household of two, both are working full time along with a part-time job, and we’re still struggling to pay rent on a one-bedroom apartment.”

The issues voters raised in the survey are some of the same ones that Democrats in Congress have zeroed in on in their efforts to slam President Donald Trump — for dismissing concerns about affordability as a hoax, backing cuts to Medicaid and food stamps in the Big Beautiful Bill, and going to war with Iran without congressional approval. 

But the survey findings also suggest that many voters think Democrats should be doing more to fight back. 

“It would help to have more positive messages about what the Democrats plan to do to address the issues,” a Montana voter said. “They should define the issue and propose meaningful solutions. Promote their agenda for positive change.”

Some respondents hoped change would come in the form of a generational shake-up — a trend that has already been playing out nationwide, as several younger Democrats have ousted older incumbents. 

“Congress needs a clean-up,” one Michigan voter argued. “We need new blood.”

While it’s not uncommon for the opposition party to head into the midterms with an advantage, the information provided shows that almost 80% of respondents reported feeling that the country is heading in the wrong direction. Nearly 90% of respondents also told the volunteers they plan to vote this November.  Although nothing says what party they plan to vote for, the DNC believes this information reinforces the need to motivate “infrequent voters” by “directly addressing the rising cost of living.”

Kevin Frey contributed to this report.

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From MS Now.