Democrats, rejected by many voters and headed for life in the minority in Washington, see few reasons for optimism these days.
But a rare bright spot for the party comes from an unexpected place: a House district in Michigan that is home to many white, working-class residents, as well as counties that shifted hard against Vice President Kamala Harris in the fall.
Republicans had hoped to capture the seat in Michigan’s Eighth District after Representative Dan Kildee, a Democrat and local institution, retired. Instead, State Senator Kristen McDonald Rivet won by 6.7 percentage points.
“This was a big win, a really important win in a tough seat,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Democrat of Michigan.
Ms. McDonald Rivet is an Ohio-hating Michigan sports enthusiast and mother of six. (“I know,” she said in one memorable ad. “That’s a lot.”) She has a coarse take on politicians, using a bleeped-out expletive in the ad to call most of them “full of” garbage. Her milk-guzzling 15-year-old son, she liked to say, kept her closely attuned to the price of groceries.
She will hold a freshman leadership position with the moderate New Democrat Coalition in Congress.
The New York Times caught up with her about why her party’s economic messaging alienated some voters, what national Democrats could learn from her race and why she spent “almost zero time” discussing the state of the nation’s democracy.
Here are excerpts from the interview, which have been edited for length and clarity:
You outperformed Vice President Kamala Harris across a challenging district for your party. What is the biggest lesson the national party should take from your victory?
We focused continuously — almost exclusively — on pocketbook issues, on getting more money in people’s pockets.
I spent a lot of time on TV looking directly into the camera and talking about how I worry about the same things.
We set out from the very beginning to not make my congressional race a surrogate for the top of the ticket. This was a race between me and my opponent, my work, not just in the State Senate but my lifetime work of having accomplished things that impact the economic stability of families.
Very basic needs feel like they’re getting further and further out of reach. Any campaign that’s not talking about that, and concrete ideas to address that, will not be able to win a district like mine.
Does the national Democratic Party have a perception problem in your district?
It’s not about a rejection of Democrats and an acceptance of Republicans. It is a rejection of anybody they feel is not like them and is not talking straight.
I don’t think that means that we’ve seen this big Republican sweep. I think what it means is that people want to feel seen.
A lot of what they see from people on both sides of the ticket, frankly, are talking points, generalities, promises that aren’t kept, language that they don’t actually use.
Like what?
I don’t want to talk about “inflation.” I talked about the price of eggs. We’re not, you know, having a conversation about the market. We’re not talking about interest rates.
A huge swath of folks in my district work in the service industry. We can talk about raising income. Or you can say, “I’m not going to tax your tips.” That is so real.
What’s the single most important thing Democrats can do to win back the voters who supported you but not the top of the ticket?
We have to base our campaigns in economic reality.
The system feels stacked against so many people. And when we take those messages and we want to talk about a sort of esoteric policy ideology, you lose people.
There are big parts of our government that are broken that have to get fixed. And we actually need to help people earn more money and keep more of their money, especially working-class people who are making less than 60 grand a year.
When you and I spoke at the beginning of 2023, you told me that in your State Senate district, “folks were outraged by Jan. 6, but if that’s all you talk to them about, you’re not going to win their vote.”
That’s right. So, honestly, I see Democrats still really — sort of hard-core Democrats — still really outraged by Jan. 6. And frankly, I’m still outraged by Jan. 6. But if you are worried that you’re not going to keep your heat on, you care less about those things.
I spent almost zero time talking about the state of the democracy.
Let me just be really clear. Of course it’s important. And there are things that we need to worry about. But the very first thing we have to do is to commit ourselves to an agenda that makes it so everybody can thrive.
There’s an interesting contrast in how you talked about cost of living and how the Biden administration often talked about it.
When we talk about the economy and the data points that are typically associated with measuring the economy, and the jobs report and all of those things — great, beautiful and nice leading indicators, all of that — that doesn’t mean anything to people who don’t have money in the market and aren’t watching at that level.
What really matters to them is how much it costs at the grocery store and the gas pump.
While we were trying to say: ‘Look, we have a softer landing. We are doing better than anyone else post-pandemic,’ it lands on families in my district as tone-deaf when they can’t afford to eat meat more than once a week.
What will be your biggest priority in your first term?
Trying to be incredibly realistic about what it means to be a freshman member in the minority, but my priority is always that space around, how do we raise median income in Michigan and make sure that every single kid is in a good, strong school and has a pathway to the middle class?
I would love to be able to make some progress on restoring the expanded child tax credit. If we can’t get that done, shame on us.
And we have got to do something about the cost of child care. I am not retiring until we’ve made progress.
If you run for re-election in 2026, you will do so during the Michigan governor’s race. With whom would you most like to share a ballot?
A moderate who focuses on more money in pockets.
What do you think of Jocelyn Benson, the Michigan secretary of state, who is widely expected to run for governor?
She’s an amazing leader.
And Pete Buttigieg? Should he run?
He actually did a rally for me. He’s also an amazing leader who I like very much. I have a long relationship with Mike Duggan, the mayor of Detroit. And then Sheriff Chris Swanson out of Genesee County is going to put together a bid for governor. He’s kind of a dark-horse candidate, but he’s also amazing.
What do you think of Mr. Duggan’s decision to run for governor as an independent?
It would feel shocking if it were anyone else. But Mike Duggan is the guy who won his first race as mayor of Detroit in a write-in campaign. So it’s a mistake to politically underestimate Mike Duggan.
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