Democratic candidates are shifting their positions on Israel, transgender rights, immigration and healthcare as the party seeks to recover from Donald Trump’s return to the White House and regain control of Congress in the midterm elections.
The changes have been most visible in closely fought House and Senate races, where some Democrats have softened their stance on transgender participation in school sports and adopted tougher language on border security. Others, particularly on the party’s progressive wing, are pressing for a sharper break with established policy, including stronger opposition to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
The competing approaches reflect growing divisions within the party since Trump defeated Kamala Harris in 2024. Moderates have struggled to contain a rising progressive movement, while candidates have increasingly tailored their positions to the states and constituencies in which they are standing.
Democrats shift position on Israel
Israel has become one of the clearest areas of change. Polling cited in the source material suggests that 60 per cent of US adults now hold an unfavourable view of Israel, rising to 80 per cent among Democrats.
The shift has been particularly pronounced among younger voters, prompting some long-standing Democratic supporters of Israel to call for greater accountability from the US ally.
Senator Chris Coons, a moderate Democrat from Delaware who could chair the Senate Foreign Relations Committee if his party retakes the Senate, has called for a “thorough reexamination” of the US-Israeli relationship.
In an interview this month, Mr Coons also said he was willing to consider sanctions against Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister. The position marks a notable change from the approach taken during the 2024 campaign, when Ms Harris rejected calls for a Palestinian-American speaker at the Democratic National Convention.
Earlier this year, 40 Democratic senators backed a motion opposing proposed military sales to Israel. Seven Democrats joined Republicans in voting against it.
However, more progressive voices in Congress would face resistance from senior party figures. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who could become Senate majority leader, has said the US “commitment to Israel’s security and defense must be ironclad”.
Transgender rights and the border
In competitive races, several Democrats have sought to distance themselves from positions on transgender rights that Republicans have repeatedly attacked.
Marcy Kaptur, a Democratic representative in Ohio, has appeared in an advert saying: “Boys should not play in girls’ sports”. In North Carolina, Representative Don Davis said there should be “a safe and fair space for women and girls in sports”, while South Carolina Senate candidate Annie Andrews said she opposed “biological men playing in women’s sports”.
The strategy follows a Republican advert from the 2024 campaign which attacked Ms Harris’s support for transgender Americans. Its narrator said: “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”
But the issue remains a dividing line within the party. At a town hall in Portland, Maine, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rejected concerns from a transgender student who said they felt “abandoned” by Democrats.
“They’re wrong,” Ms Ocasio-Cortez said of Democrats who had retreated from support for transgender rights. “First and foremost, I want to just let you know how shameful and sorry I am that there are people out there that scare so easily after an election.”
She added: “The moment you compromise the rights of a trans person in America, you compromise the rights of every citizen.”
Immigration has produced a similar split. James Talarico, the Democratic Senate candidate in Texas, has styled himself a “border security Democrat”, combining calls for stronger enforcement with comprehensive immigration reform.
Lucas Holtz, a senior political adviser at the moderate organisation Third Way, said the approach was more effective because it was proactive rather than merely a response to Republican attacks.
“[Talarico] is making the case in a lot of his ads that the Biden administration failed on securing the border… It’s putting Republicans on their back foot in some of these races,” Mr Holtz said.
At the same time, opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement has grown among progressives after federal agents in Minneapolis shot dead two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, earlier this year. Left-leaning politicians and groups have rallied around calls to “abolish ICE”, which would dismantle the agency and end its enforcement authority.
Healthcare remains common ground
Healthcare is one area where Democrats across the ideological spectrum have broadly agreed that greater government intervention is needed as voters remain concerned about the cost of living.
Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, supports Medicare for All, which would extend the federal health insurance programme for older people to the entire population.
In more conservative states, Ms Andrews has instead called for the restoration of Affordable Care Act subsidies that expired during Trump’s second term, alongside limits on health insurers’ profits.
Polling cited by the independent health organisation KFF found that 66 per cent of US adults support Medicare for All, a 13-point increase from October 2020.
“Everybody’s going to have their own approach to this, but by and large, all Democrats want to move to a universal healthcare system in the best way possible,” Mr Holtz said.
He added: “We’re in agreement that we need to do better than what the Trump administration has done.”
