PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Democrats are spotlighting their “positive momentum” at the ballot box since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, as they work to win back House and Senate majorities in this year’s midterm elections.
“We had a record of victories across the country over the last year,” Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin touted this weekend in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. “We’re winning up and down the ballot, big statewide elections, of course, and county races, local races, state legislative races, one after another.”
Democrats are hoping for a blue wave similar to the one they rode in 2018, the last time they won back the House from the GOP, and they’re energized. But Republicans are not sold on whether special elections are a good barometer of things to come in the midterms.
“Special elections are very strange because turnout is often stifled,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News Digital late last year.
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A stunning setback for Republicans two and a half weeks ago in a special state Senate election for a ruby-red district in Texas grabbed tons of national attention, and was seen by some in the GOP as a “wakeup call.”
The Democrats’ victory in Texas, and two more ballot box wins since then, were fueled in part by continued concerns by Americans over high prices, and came amid backlash over the Trump administration’s unprecedented crackdown on illegal immigration and, as the latest polling indicates, the president remains mired in negative numbers.
Thanks in part to their laser focus on the issue of affordability amid persistent inflation, Democrats scored decisive victories in the 2025 elections, and have overperformed at the ballot box in other off-year and special elections since the start of Trump’s second administration.
“There’s certainly positive momentum for the Democratic Party. There’s wind at our back. We’re seeing win after win, and that’s continued unabated into this new year,” Martin emphasized.
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The DNC chair was interviewed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as he made his way up to Maine this weekend to help organize local Democrats ahead of an upcoming special legislative election later this month.
Martin said he’s anything but complacent, and is ignoring the latest national polling that indicates that Democrats hold a mid-single digit advantage over the Republicans in the battle for Congress.
“We’re not going to rest on our laurels; we’re not going to believe those polls. We’re just going to keep organizing and talking to voters.”
Republicans are facing traditional political headwinds in the midterms, when the party in power usually loses House and Senate seats.
But Democrats also face obstacles, including polling that indicates their party’s brand remains deeply unpopular.
Martin acknowledged in a Fox News Digital interview last summer that the party had hit “rock bottom,” but added that “there’s only one direction to go, and that’s up, and that’s what we’re doing.”
The rival Republican National Committee (RNC) and Trump’s fundraising organizations hold a massive cash advantage over the Democrats.
But Martin says the party’s success at the ballot box is boosting fundraising.
“Our fundraising so far this year has really been gangbusters. People are starting to realize that the Democratic Party has a plan to win. They’re winning around the country, and they’re investing again,” he highlighted.
And he added, “What I’ve always said is we don’t need to outraise the Republicans, right? We just need to be able to raise enough money to actually compete, to be in the ring so we can fight, and that’s what we’re doing.”
The RNC isn’t buying Martin’s narrative.
“While Republicans are focused on preparing for the midterms, Ken Martin is bragging about spending money the DNC doesn’t even have on deep-blue races and touting those easy wins as if they’re a serious national strategy,” RNC National Press Secretary Kiersten Pels charged in a statement to Fox News Digital. “As Democrats openly question his leadership and the party fractures, they’re broke, divided, and without a coherent plan — and voters will send that message loud and clear at the midterms.”
While economic concerns have played into the Democrats’ political narrative, better-than-expected unemployment and inflation reports last week are giving Republicans something to brag about.
“We just had a fantastic report on inflation. Way down. Cost of products way down. We inherited a mess, a total mess. And now it’s really coming along. We have the greatest numbers that we’ve ever had,” Trump emphasized Friday in a speech in North Carolina.
But Martin says Trump has “a long ways to go to repair this economy.”
“A couple good reports, and they’re not even that great right now,” Martin argued. “They’re going to have to string together a lot of reports to actually repair this economy and make it work for working people.”
