MEMO: Findings from Post-2025 Gubernatorial Elections Focus Groups

Center Aisle Coalition conducted focus groups immediately after the 2025 New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections with voters who voted for Trump or third party in 2024 and Democrats in 2025. These groups found that both Spanberger and Sherrill effectively connected with these voters through values, by focusing on the right issues (namely the economy), and by effectively pushing back on the attacks against them to neutralize potential areas for vulnerability. These voters are open to supporting Democrats in the midterms, but their support for Spanberger and Sherrill should not be interpreted as a full embrace of Democrats. Rather, candidates make the Party, the Party doesn’t make the candidates.

That said, Democrats have made inroads in establishing their priorities on healthcare and costs this year, but the brand is not where it needs to be to feel confident that the overperformance of these candidates will translate to Democratic wins in the midterms. These participants feel disillusioned by Republican leadership on costs and saw both Spanberger and Sherrill as laser-focused on that issue, while avoiding partisan finger-pointing. There is more work to be done to improve the Democratic Party brand more broadly, but these focus groups provide a roadmap for Democrats to build on these successes in 2026.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD CENTER AISLE’S FINDINGS FROM THE 2025 GUBERNATORIAL ELECTIONS