Democrats are using Sen. Elizabeth Warren as a surrogate to close on their affordability message in the final weeks of the campaign.
Warren will appear in Maine, Nevada and New Mexico in the coming days to make the case that electing candidates there will help Democrats address the high costs of housing and goods.
“[Voters] want their elected officials to hear how hard it is for them, and they want to hear real plans about what candidates will do if they get elected,” Warren said in an interview with The Washington Sun ahead of a campaign event Thursday with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Democrats nationwide have focused their election message on affordability, for good reason: 84% of voters cited the cost of living as a top issue in their midterm vote, according to an AP-NORC poll conducted in October.
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Warren is scheduled to campaign Saturday with Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson in Maine. On Monday, she’s expected to join former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who is running to become the next governor of New Mexico, before campaigning in Nevada alongside Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who has organized visits to the state for her Senate colleagues.
“I couldn’t miss a chance to go to Nevada, partly to make sure that everyone in the state knows about the work [Cortez Masto]’s done to lower housing costs, and partly to say thank you.” Warren said.
Warren will appear with Nevada Reps. Susie Lee and Dina Titus, as well as Democratic gubernatorial nominee Aaron Ford, who’s challenging Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo. The race for governor in the state is currently ranked as a toss-up by The Cook Political Report.
She has also campaigned for Senate Democratic nominees Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota, Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire and Juliana Stratton of Illinois, as well as incumbent Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff. As of August, Warren has donated $600,000 to Democrats ahead of the midterm elections.
Warren’s message on the campaign trail is that electing more Democrats to Congress and state offices would help advance their plans to ease costs on housing and other goods.
The housing bill she pushed through earlier this year — the first to come out of Congress in more than three decades — is a key component of her midterm message. The housing package became law in July even though the president refused to sign it despite previously endorsing it.
“We’re already underway with Road to Housing 2.0, but with lots of room to expand,” Warren said. “Housing is the single biggest expense that most families ever take on, and housing is becoming so expensive that first-time homebuyers see home ownership as out of reach.”
If Democrats controlled the House and Senate, they would push for new housing legislation focused on “starter homes, renters, and manufactured housing,” Warren said.
Cortez Masto echoed Warren’s pitch for electing Democrats in order to enact more housing legislation.
“I am proud of the work Senator Warren and I did,” Cortez Masto told The Sun in a statement. “In a Democratic Congress, I look forward to ensuring the ROAD to Housing Act is implemented… and fighting back against the Trump Administration and big corporations if they try to stall it.”
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said Trump is “laser-focused” on lowering housing costs and “will not stop fighting until the American Dream of homeownership is within reach for every American.”
Warren doesn’t buy it, as she tells voters when she speaks to them.
“Donald Trump calls affordability a hoax and says lowering housing costs is a big yawn,” she said. “Trump promised he would lower costs on day one … the cost of groceries, housing, electricity bills, gas prices.”
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