新罕布什尔州朴茨茅斯 — 自唐纳德·特朗普总统重返白宫以来，民主党人正将他们在投票箱中的“积极势头”作为焦点，力求在今年的中期选举中赢回众议院和参议院的多数席位。
“过去一年，我们在全国范围内取得了创纪录的胜利，”民主党全国委员会（DNC）主席肯·马丁（Ken Martin）在本周末接受《福克斯新闻数字版》独家采访时吹嘘道。“我们在各级选举中都在获胜，当然包括全州范围的大型选举，以及县、地方、州立法机构的选举，一个接一个。”
民主党人希望重现2018年那次“蓝色浪潮”——上一次他们从共和党手中夺回众议院时的情景，并且他们士气高涨。但共和党人并不确定特别选举是否是中期选举未来走势的良好晴雨表。
“特别选举非常奇怪，因为投票率往往受到抑制，”来自路易斯安那州的众议院议长迈克·约翰逊（Mike Johnson）在去年年底接受《福克斯新闻数字版》采访时表示。
两周半前，在德克萨斯州一个深红选区的州参议院特别选举中，共和党遭遇了令人震惊的挫折，这一事件引起了全国广泛关注，也被一些共和党人视为一个“警钟”。
民主党在得克萨斯州的胜利，以及此后另外两次投票箱中的胜利，部分原因是美国人持续对高物价感到担忧，同时也是对特朗普政府史无前例打击非法移民的强烈反弹。最新民调显示，总统仍深陷负面支持率泥潭。
部分由于他们在持续的通货膨胀中，将焦点高度集中在经济可负担性问题上，民主党在2025年的选举中取得了决定性胜利，并在特朗普第二任期开始后的其他非大选年和特别选举中，在投票箱表现上超出预期。
“民主党确实有积极的势头。我们背后有东风相助。我们看到一个又一个胜利，这种势头在新的一年里持续不减，”马丁强调道。
马丁是在新罕布什尔州朴茨茅斯接受采访的，本周末他将前往缅因州，帮助组织当地民主党人，为本月晚些时候即将举行的特别立法选举做准备。
马丁表示，他丝毫没有自满，并且无视最新的全国民调——该民调显示，在国会控制权的争夺中，民主党仅以个位数优势领先共和党。
“我们不会躺在功劳簿上，我们不会相信那些民调。我们只会继续组织活动，与选民沟通。”
共和党在中期选举中面临着传统的政治逆风，通常执政党在中期选举中会失去众议院和参议院席位。
但民主党也面临障碍，包括民调显示其政党品牌仍然极不受欢迎。
马丁在去年夏天接受《福克斯新闻数字版》采访时承认，该党已跌至“谷底”，但补充道：“只有一个方向，那就是向上，而我们正在这么做。”
竞争对手共和党全国委员会（RNC）和特朗普的筹款组织在资金上对民主党拥有巨大优势。
但马丁表示，该党在投票箱的成功正在推动筹款工作。
“今年到目前为止，我们的筹款确实非常出色。人们开始意识到民主党有获胜的计划。他们在全国范围内获胜，并且再次进行投资，”他强调。
他补充道：“我一直说，我们不需要超过共和党人的筹款，对吧？我们只需要筹集到足够的资金来真正参与竞争，进入战场，这样我们才能战斗，而我们正在这么做。”
虽然经济担忧已成为民主党的政治叙事的一部分，但上周公布的优于预期的失业率和通胀报告给了共和党人吹嘘的资本。
“我们刚刚得到了一份关于通货膨胀的出色报告。大幅下降。产品成本大幅下降。我们继承了一个烂摊子，一个彻头彻尾的烂摊子。而现在一切真的在好转。我们拥有了有史以来最好的数据，”特朗普周五在北卡罗来纳州的一次演讲中强调。
但马丁表示，特朗普“要修复经济还有很长的路要走”。
“几个好的报告，但它们现在甚至算不上很好，”马丁反驳道。“他们必须串联起大量报告，才能真正修复经济，并使其为劳动人民服务。”
保罗·施泰因豪泽（Paul Steinhauser）是一名驻摇摆州新罕布什尔州的政治记者，报道全国竞选活动。
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.
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.
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.”
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.”
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast.
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