Democratic Party
US major political party; mounting 2026 midterm campaign on tariff economic message.
On 25 September, Cook Political Report moved 15 House races towards Democrats, giving the party its first tracked EDGE over Republicans in rated seats.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 2 active topics
How is the Democratic Party's 2026 strategy different from 2018 and 2022?
Timeline for Democratic Party
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US Midterms 2026Background
The Democratic Party is one of the two major US political parties, in opposition after losing The White House, Senate and House in 2024. It contests elections through candidates, state parties and congressional campaign committees; its House campaign Arm is the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).
Heading into the 2026 midterms, the party closed a long-running fundraising gap. By February the DCCC reported $57.4m in cash against the Republican committee's $57.6m. In September, Cook Political Report's House ratings showed more seats leaning Democratic than Republican for the first time in Lowdown's tracking.
The name is shared with the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, a separate organisation with no connection to the US party, and is distinct from the UK's Social Democratic Party and Liberal Democrats.
The party gains House momentum
On 25 September, Cook Political Report shifted 15 House races towards Democrats and none towards Republicans. Its ratings put 208 seats at least leaning Democratic against 205 leaning Republican, the first Democratic lead in Lowdown's tracking.
Cook's Democratic column leads by only three seats, and Republicans held 17 of Cook's 22 toss-up seats, so the Democratic Party still has to win most of the closest districts to take The House in November. A majority needs 218 seats, ten more than Cook's Democratic column held after the shift.
The party reaches funding parity
By February, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee held $57.4m in cash, within $172,000 of the National Republican Congressional Committee's $57.6m, after Democrats had trailed for most of 2025. The figures were reported on 15 April.
Party committee money pays for field offices and voter registration, work that committees can coordinate with campaigns and super PACs cannot. Near-parity means the two parties fund their House ground operations from roughly equal central budgets this cycle, while outside spending and individual candidates still decide much of each race.