A Mamdani Strategist’s Advice for Democrats in the 2026 Midterms

The Washington Roundtable examines the potential for a “Blue Wave” in the 2026 midterms. The hosts are joined by Morris Katz, a twenty-six-year-old Democratic political strategist for Zohran Mamdani and Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine. Katz argues that for the Party to win a historic majority in the next election, it needs to embrace outsider candidates who refuse money from corporate PACs and aren’t “apologetic” about the government’s role in people’s lives. “We can run a campaign that says, ‘Donald Trump said he’d end forever war and lower costs and he hasn’t’—that will be successful,” Katz says. “I think even more successful would be that we are going to end forever wars, and we are going to lower costs by taking on monopolies—by taking on price gouging, by raising wages, by taxing billionaires more.” 

This week’s reading:

• “​​Donald Trump Is Breaking Up with Europe,” by Susan B. Glasser
• “How the War in Iran Became a Race to Stabilize the Global Economic Order,” by Sudarsan Raghavan
• “A Former Prisoner of the Iranian Regime Watches Trump’s War,” by Jason Rezaian
• “The Distant Promise of Iran’s Would-Be King,” by Azadeh Moaveni

The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week. 

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