Pledging to bring down the cost of rent, food and childcare was at the core of Mamdani’s left-wing campaign, but it was also a winning issue for the more moderate Democrats elsewhere.
Sherrill in New Jersey and Spanberger in Virginia both made tackling the high cost of living front and centre in their governor campaigns. And it was seemingly top of voters’ minds, too.
Exit poll data from the major US networks indicated that in all three races the most important issue for voters was the economy and affordability.
And tellingly, according to exit poll data from the BBC’s US partner CBS News, a majority of voters who named the economy as their most important issue voted for the Democratic candidate in New York, New Jersey and Virginia.
It may well give the party a message to coalesce around ahead of the crucial midterm elections next year – and pose a challenge for Republicans to counter.
“I can’t see into the future, but I see Republicans losing the House if Americans are continuing to go paycheck-to-paycheck,” Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene told Semafor recently, external.
“It’s clearer than ever that affordability needs to be the centrepiece of the Democrats’ message going into the midterms,” political communications expert Andrew Koneschusky told the AFP news agency.
“The affordability message cuts across demographics and highlights a major vulnerability for Republicans,” he said.
