“That is the strategy is that: Democrats who lost on the affordability issue in 2024 now want to win on that issue in 2026,” Cusack said. “However, I think they have been light on the details of exactly what they would do.

“They do not have a detailed agenda. The interesting thing that did not get enough attention in the media is that the Democratic National Committee put together an autopsy report of why they lost the 2024 election,” he continued. “We at the Examiner asked a number of members — because they’re not releasing it — We asked a number of members: what do you think about that? A number of them, including Sen. John Fetterman, said ‘You should release it.’”

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) both told the Washington Examiner that they support the release of the report.

The Harris campaign did not win a single swing state in 2024 despite a war chest of over $1.5 billion. Harris outperformed her predecessor, former President Joe Biden, in only 58 counties nationwide. In her own home state of California, 10 counties that voted for the Democratic ticket in 2020 flipped to vote for the Republican ticket in 2024.

Meanwhile, as the Democratic Party is gearing up for the 2026 midterm elections, the Democratic National Committee is still paying off debt from Harris’s campaign. As of October 2025, almost a year after the election, the DNC paid the Harris campaign more than $20 million.

2025 was an off-year election season that favored Democrats. The party won or overperformed in nearly 90% of the races.

DNC CHAIRMAN KEN MARTIN BACKTRACKS ON RELEASING 2024 AUTOPSY REPORT

Many Democratic lawmakers have opted to retire rather than run for reelection in 2026. So far, five Democratic senators and 21 Democratic representatives have announced that they will not seek another term.

Despite holding the majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate, six Republican senators and 27 Republican representatives are also expected to retire, leaving several vacancies in the 2026 midterm elections.