As Democrats try to rebuild support among working-class voters, they’re increasingly running candidates who bill themselves as blue-collar outsiders, and Republicans are increasingly accusing them of overselling the story.
From Montana to Maine, campaigns are scrutinizing rivals’ résumés, political connections, and family backgrounds to undermine claims of working-class authenticity. Republicans have already begun deploying that argument against Democratic candidates in some of the country’s most competitive races.
Sam Forstag’s triumph on Tuesday over former gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse in the Democratic primary for Montana’s 1st District put a spotlight on the 32-year-old’s previous work as a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union.
Forstag leans into his background as a smokejumper and union leader, and Democrats are bullish he can win against Trump-backed radio host Aaron Flint and flip the seat held by retiring Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT). Democrats have targeted the western Montana district with no success in the past two cycles.
Forstag’s work experience includes periods of lobbying Montana lawmakers for the state’s ACLU branch, but his stump speech centers mostly on his years as a labor organizer involved in unions and parachuting into remote areas for the U.S. Forest Service to fight wildfires, also known as a smokejumper.
The first-time political candidate has racked up progressive support, including endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), for his pro-labor background.
“Sam may play a firefighter on social media, but he’s just a slimy pay-to-play lobbyist who doesn’t care about Montana values or an honest wage,” said Heather Swift, Flint’s campaign manager, following Forstag’s nomination.
The attacks reflect a broader challenge facing Democrats as they try to claw back support among working-class voters who have drifted toward Republicans over the past decade. Candidates with backgrounds in farming, organized labor, firefighting, or military service have become increasingly attractive recruits, but those biographies also invite scrutiny from opponents eager to paint them as political insiders.
Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner has also faced accusations from Republicans of overstating his career as an oyster farmer. The combat veteran is taking on longtime centrist Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).
Platner, facing his latest scandal over allegations from former girlfriends of toxic relationships, has positioned himself as the “working-class guy that lives a working-class life” with “an authenticity there that most other politicians just can’t provide because it’s inauthentic for them.” Republicans call him the “prep-school kid” for graduating from a private high school and characterize him as reliant on his family for “living in a house daddy bought him” and his biggest oyster customer being his mother’s restaurant.
President Donald Trump’s visit Friday to speak to Wisconsin farmers in the district of vulnerable Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R) spotlighted Democrats’ efforts to flip the competitive seat sought by Democrat Rebecca Cooke.
Speaking before the visit on the family farm where she grew up, Cooke, a self-described political outsider, pointed fingers at Trump’s tariffs for higher agricultural prices. The Van Orden campaign argues her appeal as a “farm-raised waitress” is undercut by her past work in Democratic politics, at think tanks, on campaigns, and founding a consulting firm.
Hallie Shoffner, the Arkansas Democratic Senate nominee running a long-shot bid to unseat Sen. Tom Cotton (R), has been branded by Republicans as a left-wing wolf in sheep’s clothing rather than a farmer by trade for her activism on progressive causes and former political donations.
Republicans, however, aren’t immune to running candidates with holes in their résumés.
In the race for governor in Trump-dominated Iowa, MAHA-aligned Republican businessman Zach Lahn’s campaign as an outsider farmer helped him upset Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) on Tuesday night.
MIDTERM COUNTDOWN: THE MOST EXPENSIVE MIDTERM EVER?
The anti-establishment narrative from Lahn, who resides on his longtime family farm and owns an investment company, has been targeted by Democrats for his years of work as a GOP political operative. That includes on Iowa congressional campaigns, at the conservative Americans for Prosperity advocacy group, and as a staffer for Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) and former Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) when they both served in the House.
Whether the attacks resonate with voters remains to be seen. But as voters increasingly reward candidates who appear authentic and punish those who seem manufactured, a politician’s biography has become as important to campaigns as their policy positions.
James A. Downs contributed to this report.
