Voters arrive at the Buck Creek School to vote on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, in rural Perry, Kan. Charlie Riedel/AP
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is launching a new effort to reconnect with rural voters — a constituency that has shifted heavily toward Republicans in recent elections — as the party seeks to reclaim a House majority next year.
For the first time, the DCCC says it has created a program focused specifically on rural outreach. Chair Suzan DelBene, who represents Washington’s 1st District, argues Democrats see an opening as aspects of President Trump’s economic agenda, including tariffs, grow less popular. She told NPR that rural residents are noticing the “damage” from GOP policies — higher costs and weakened health care — and that Democrats can offer an alternative.
Trump has defended his economic plan and plans to promote it nationally, an administration official recently told NPR.
The DCCC describes the initiative as part of an “eight-figure investment.” DelBene said the committee has hired a full-time staffer dedicated to strategic rural engagement nationwide and has begun partnering with community groups and leaders in competitive districts, including newly redrawn areas in South Texas. She emphasized that rural voters are crucial in the swing districts that will decide control of the House.
Anthony Flaccavento, co-founder and executive director of the Rural Urban Bridge Initiative and a small farmer from southwestern Virginia, said economic frustration among many voters could create an opening for Democrats. He believes rural voters tend to favor economically populist policies — anti-monopoly measures, stronger unions and infrastructure investment.
But turning economic message into votes is uncertain. Pew Research Center data show that in last year’s presidential election, Trump won 69% of self-described rural voters, while Kamala Harris captured 29%.
Flaccavento calls winning back even a portion of those voters “hard as hell,” but insists it’s necessary. He sees overlap between rural disillusionment and working-class discontent in small towns and cities; combining rural and blue-collar working-class voters, he says, would create the country’s largest voting bloc.
Drawing on his own campaigns — in 2018 he held more than 100 town halls, drew thousands of attendees and raised significant funds, but still lost decisively — Flaccavento says Democrats have long struggled to overcome negative perceptions in rural areas. He believes the party has too often downplayed economic concerns central to rural voters.
Political scientist Nicholas Jacobs of Colby College argues Democrats didn’t just neglect rural America; they shifted resources away after abandoning a 50-state strategy and prioritized urban mobilization and suburban persuasion. That approach embraced the idea, as paraphrased from Senate Democratic leadership, that losing a rural working-class voter could be offset by gaining two suburban voters — a strategy Jacobs calls misguided.
Both Jacobs and Flaccavento caution that isolated spending on a few swing districts won’t be enough. Flaccavento hopes the DCCC’s effort is a sustained, serious commitment extending beyond targeted races, possibly requiring five to 10 years of consistent engagement before some rural districts become competitive again.
Jacobs says Democrats must represent the full country if they aim to be a national party, acknowledging rural America’s role in the nation’s political complexity.