Texas Democratic state House Rep. Mihaela Plesa, who handily won reelection in a traditionally Republican stronghold, gave the Democratic Party advice on how to rebound from bruising losses during the 2024 election cycle.
Warning that her party has become distracted by culture war issues, mired in echo chambers, and overly focused on positive vibes over political realities, the Texas lawmaker suggested Democrats faced defeats because they have lost touch with voters worried about economic concerns and other everyday issues during an interview with the Texas Tribune.
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“I don’t think that [voters] really cared about some of the stuff that we’ve been hearing,” Plesa said. “They care about: Can I pay my car insurance? Can I go to the doctor and it be affordable?”
“I knew what people felt like because I was knocking on their door every day, asking them,” she continued. “[Democrats] need to knock on more doors and start having more of those hard conversations and not so many internal conversations with ourselves because Texas is so much bigger than the conversations we’re having internally.”
While Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) led Republicans in flipping three Texas state House seats red, he failed to snag Plesa’s. Instead, she increased her margin of victory over her 2022 performance in Collin County, an area that has seen rising support for Republicans at the top of the ticket, as exhibited by President-elect Donald Trump’s strong showing there this election cycle.
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Plesa shored up Democrats’ presence in Collin County when she dealt Republican challenger Steven Kinard a decisive defeat on Nov. 5. The win came after Plesa first flipped the seat blue in 2022, becoming the first Democrat elected to the statehouse from Collin County in decades.
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The Texas lawmaker credited her victory to running a campaign on issues that mattered to her constituents, such as public education and the rising cost of utilities. In contrast, Plesa argued Democrats at the national level struggled to connect with people, losing themselves in a quagmire of “joy vibes,” the strategy Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign unsuccessfully embraced.
“I tried to explain not only to my county party, but to the state party as a whole. They call it political science, not political vibes,” Plesa said. “The bottom of the ballot is closer to the front doors of our constituents.”
Her words come after Democrats’ failure to focus on the economy and immigration, issues polls showed were of top importance to voters, were widely credited for why they saw critical losses in the White House, both chambers of Congress, and on local levels during the past election cycle. In what proved to be effective counter-messaging, Trump led Republicans in filling the void by branding Harris and the Democrats as out-of-touch bureaucrats who cared more about niche progressive priorities like transgender policy than widespread voter concerns about inflation and border security.
While she’s certainly no fan of most Republican policies, Plesa said bipartisanship is critical to passing legislation that addresses local issues voters care about and providing Democrats wind in their sails on the campaign trail.
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“I think that we have to understand and respect each other’s chambers. When you understand that, I think you can get some really great legislation out,” Plesa said, later expressing hope that she could “move forward with my colleagues.”
“I really want to work together,” Plesa said. “The Texas Democratic Party needs to remind the state of Texas and the nation what it means to be a Texas Democrat.”
