Democrats are facing an uphill battle to keep control of the Senate in November, and the fight took center stage at their convention Thursday night — without any of the candidates having to say it out loud.
Candidates from four of the seven tightest races spoke on the main stage in Chicago: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona. Texas candidate Colin Allred also had time at the mic. He’s running for one of the just two Republican-held Senate seats Democrats have a chance of flipping in November.
The battleground Democrats who got prime-time speaking slots at the convention Thursday focused on their own personal stories, not the collective goal of keeping the Senate in Democratic hands.
It echoes the candidate-focused strategy that Sen. Gary Peters, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, emphasized to reporters all week.
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“We were able to win when no one thought we could win because we turned them into candidate-versus-candidate races — try to get the nationalization out of it,” Peters said at the CNN-Politico Grill at the DNC this week.
That plan of attack translated to lots of heartfelt, personal stories from the candidates Thursday, and little talk of the existential threat to Democratic control.
Allred and Arizona candidate Rep. Ruben Gallego both talked about growing up with single mothers.
“When we talk about lowering costs, I think about the times we went to the grocery store growing up, swiped the debit card and said a little prayer,” Allred told the crowd.
“My mom raised us alone on a secretary’s salary. I slept on the floor, I worked every job I could — meatpacking, construction, making pizzas,” Gallego said. He also shared his story of the government failing to care for veterans returning home.
Michigan candidate Rep. Elissa Slotkin began her patriotism-focused speech discussing her time in the CIA. “Do not give an inch to pretenders who wrap themselves in the flag but spit in the face of freedoms it represents,” she said to applause.
And Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin explained how she was raised by her grandparents as an in to focus on Social Security and Medicare. “We know that all families don’t look alike. My mother was a teenager when I was born and she struggled with addiction. I never met my father but I had two incredible grandparents who stepped in and raised me.”
Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey focused on grocery prices and corporate greed. “The faceless wholesalers, they’re the ones who are extorting families,” he said, echoing Harris’ recent economic policy proposal.
The other three Democrats in competitive races — Sens. Jon Tester of Montana, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Jacky Rosen of Nevada — were notably absent from the convention all week long. In Florida, where Democrats may have another pick-up opportunity, former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell just won her primary on Tuesday.
In his tight race, Tester hasn’t endorsed Harris for president. Brown and Rosen, who have both endorsed Harris, were on the campaign trail instead of the DNC this week.
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Claire Heddles is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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