“You don’t have to have a beard in order to connect with voters.”

Jessica Mackler, president of EMILY’s List, on how Democratic women like Arizona congressional candidate JoAnna Mendoza are helping reshape the party’s working-class appeal. As Democrats chart a course out of the wilderness following steep 2024 losses, the party is turning to candidates from blue-collar backgrounds to win back voters frustrated by rising costs and a political class they see as out of touch. Mendoza and other Democratic female candidates are building campaigns around economic populism rooted in humble origin stories and blue-collar lives. (Roll Call)