Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani supporters gather outside 30 Rock in New York City on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (Fox News Digital/Deirdre Heavey)
The Democratic Party has been without a clear leader since former Vice President Kamala Harris lost the 2024 presidential election to President Donald Trump last year.
NYC VOTERS EMBRACE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM AS AOC, SANDERS STUMP FOR MAMDANI
Ahead of the midterm elections in 2026, the New York City mayoral race has dominated the national political stage this year.
New York Democrats, such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Gov. Kathy Hochul, waited months to endorse the Democratic nominee. Republicans, meanwhile, have capitalized on such endorsements as embracing a far-left agenda, including Trump who labeled Mamdani a "communist" – a moniker he rejected.
New York City voters who attended the star-studded rally in Queens on Sunday embraced democratic socialism and told Fox News Digital that Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez represent the future of the Democratic Party.
But released the following day, the "Deciding to Win" report, first shared with Semafor, pushes Democrats back to the center. The report is based on "thousands of election results, hundreds of public polls and academic papers, dozens of case studies, and surveys of more than 500,000 voters we conducted since the 2024 election."
According to Semafor's reporting, elected Democrats are set to receive copies of the report as early as this week, and there will be events in Washington, D.C., and New York City to promote it.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at a Democracy Forum event held by the Obama Foundation at the Javits Center on Nov. 17, 2022, in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Since President Barack Obama won his re-election campaign in 2012, the authors claim that the Democratic Party has moved to the left on "essentially every issue."
They conclude that today’s Democratic Party is more focused on climate change, democracy, abortion and identity politics than on the economy and the middle class. With that shift, they say, more voters now see the party as "out of touch."
The authors encourage Democrats to refocus policy agendas on lowering costs and building the economy and advocate for "popular" economic policies as opposed to student loan forgiveness or Medicare-for-all. They also urge Democrats to focus less on things like climate change and abortion and more on the cost of living.
That includes moderating positions on immigration, public safety, energy production and some identity or cultural issues, while rejecting economic influence in politics.
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., react on stage during a "New York is Not For Sale" rally at Forest Hills Stadium, in the Queens borough of New York City on Oct. 26, 2025. (Reuters/Eduardo Munoz)
"First, voters' frustrations with the status quo are not the same as a desire for socialism. And second, criticizing the status quo is a complement to advocating for popular policies on the issues that matter most to the American people, not a substitute," the authors said.
The authors acknowledge that Democrats have "much to learn" from Mamdani, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders about prioritizing affordability, just as they should from Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego's approach to border security in Arizona.
Democrats should prioritize an "unwavering focus on the economic issues that are the top priorities of working-class Americans while meeting voters where they are on issues like immigration and public safety," according to the authors.
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While pushing Democrats to the center, the authors argue that "Deciding to Win does not advocate for giving up our party's core values or for refusing to stand up for disadvantaged groups."
The report encourages Democrats to "be brave," rejecting third-party demands and "embracing new media platforms and unscripted events with voters, rather than listening to consultants whose greatest fear is their candidate making a mistake."
Fox News Digital reached out to the DNC for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/radical-far-left-priorities-have-alienated-democrat-voters-report