Democrats Lay Out Plans to Ride Affordability to ‘Big Blue Wave’ in Midterms

House Democrats opened their 2026 issues conference on Feb. 25 with a unified pitch to voters: The party that lowers costs wins in November. The yearly conference, held this year in Leesburg, Virginia, under the theme “Fighting for an Affordable America,” came the day after President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger focused on affordability in giving the party’s official response to the president’s address on Tuesday evening. At the issues conference, House Democratic leaders used Spanberger’s speech as a backdrop to draw a contrast on kitchen-table economics heading into the midterm elections. “Democrats are laser-focused on lowering costs and improving the lives of hard-working American families,” Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California said in opening remarks. “While Republicans have used their majority to give billionaires tax breaks, our caucus is working tirelessly to bring solutions to drive down costs.”...