Midterm Elections and Gen Z: Democratic Party Moving Away from Centrist Voters

Depending on your political persuasion, the Wall Street Journal’s informal focus group featuring six “Democratic voters,” two of whom expressed irreconcilable objections to Abdul El-Sayed’s candidacy for U.S. Senate in Michigan, might produce one of two reactions: Wow, two out of six Democrats won’t back El-Sayed, or, My God, only two out of six Democrats won’t back El-Sayed.

“Being on this panel made me lose all faith in the party,” one of the two dissenters on the panel, 18-year-old Stanford University student Samson Cain, wrote last week.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

Featured Tags

Democratic Socialists of America

Abdul El-Sayed

Depending on your political persuasion, the Wall Street Journal’s informal focus group featuring six “Democratic voters,” two of whom expressed irreconcilable objections to Abdul El-Sayed’s candidacy for U.S. Senate in Michigan, might produce one of two reactions: Wow, two out of six Democrats won’t back El-Sayed, or, My God, only two out of six Democrats won’t back El-Sayed.

“Being on this panel made me lose all faith in the party,” one of the two dissenters on the panel, 18-year-old Stanford University student Samson Cain, wrote last week.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.