DLCC President Heather Williams on Winning States Races

0:00Ben Meiselas:So across the country, Democrats are overperforming by an average of 10 points in state and local races. I bet you you didn't know that. But when we've been following the polling data recently, that comports with what we're seeing, for example, from the latest Gallup poll. Amongst independents, Donald Trump's approval is 29 percent. When it comes to economic matters amongst independents, Donald Trump is just in the teens. When it comes to overall approval of Donald Trump in the Gallup poll, his average approval rate is 37 percent. Democrats are now viewed more positively on solving inflation than Republicans.

0:42Ben Meiselas:We knew that, but now it's being reflected in the polling data. And where we've followed these state and local races, it's always being reported like, oh, my God, a big shocker in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a big shocker in Iowa, a big shocker outside of just kind of state legislative races. The mayor's race flipped in Omaha that hadn't happened in three cycles. What a shocker. And we've been saying, look, follow the data. There has been a shift in what's taking place. Americans are waking up and realizing that Donald Trump defrauds them every day. I mean, look, just take a look over the past eight days.

1:24Ben Meiselas:So eight, nine days ago, Donald Trump said, any president who weakens the dollar is stupid, is an idiot. Donald Trump does it in his Donald Trump way. And then on Friday, Donald Trump said, you know what? Weakening the dollar is how you make money. It's how you make yourself rich. And I think the American people are looking at it and going, what? The same person? Watch. No, we're not going to let the dollar slide. If we have a smart president, you're never going to let the dollar slide. If you have a dummy, that could happen. Like the last one, he would, if you ever asked him about the dollar slide, he would have no idea.

2:01Ben Meiselas:But we can't let that ever happen again. Why has the dollar fallen so much? And are you concerned about that? Well, you know, I'm a person that likes a strong dollar, but a weak dollar makes you a hell of a lot more money. When we have a strong dollar, one thing happens. It sounds good. But you don't do any tourism. You can't sell tractors. You can't sell crops. You can't sell anything. It is good for inflation. That's about it. It doesn't sound good, but you make a hell of a lot more money with a weaker dollar, not a weak dollar, but a weaker dollar than you do with a strong dollar. Right. Then he goes around announcing trade deals.

2:42Ben Meiselas:What was the latest? Oh, we did a deal with Japan and they're going to invest$550 billion in the United States and we're going to get 90 % of all of those profits. Now, Donald Trump can't even explain what the deal is because newsflash It doesn't exist. Let me just level with y 'all. Deals are written on paper and they have terms and people can read them and you can see them. They're not social media posts. So sure enough, in Japan, their prime minister and Akizawa, their trade negotiator says, yeah, no, there's no binding agreement. And, yeah, we've talked about some principles, of course, and the tariff rate gets reduced to 15 percent, by the way, which screws over American car manufacturers.

3:31Ben Meiselas:But there's there's no binding deal at all. And we don't know what they're talking about with five hundred and fifty billion dollars, maybe existing commitments. But then Donald Trump tries to explain it and he just like jumbles numbers together. Just watch what he says. And everything he's saying, everything is a lie. Let's play it. Well, it depends. What Japan did is they bought down their tariffs. They gave us$550 billion because they didn't want to pay 20. They were 28 percent. And they gave us$550 billion up front. 100 percent. 500. We get 90, they get 10. 90 percent, they get 10. And there's no payment.

4:09Ben Meiselas:It's not a loan or anything. It's a signing bonus, I call it. but they gave us$550 billion and took down the tariffs a little bit, and then they agreed to open their economy to everybody. This was not easy. I want to bring in Heather Williams, the president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, where you focus on the state and local races. And I know a lot of people were saying one of the ways Democrats got outmaneuvered before was at the state and local level. And, you know, to me, a lot of thoughts go through my mind, but I want to hear from you what you are seeing in these races.

4:47Ben Meiselas:It is it is gross. It is it is cringy. It is a constant barrage of lies, a five hundred and fifty billion dollar signing bonus like they haven't given us that money. And then it impacts the people. These communities think they're going to get factories and things. And all they're seeing is the opposite things closing down. So what are you seeing as as someone who's really quarterbacking all of these state and local races across the country for the Democrats? Yeah, I appreciate that. And I think what you said right about the lies and the communities and real people knowing that that this isn't going to happen is exactly what our candidates are seeing across the country.

5:29You mentioned that we've been overperforming in these specials. We've got really big races on the horizon in November in Virginia specifically. specifically. And what folks are hearing in the communities is that, you know, this administration is full of broken promises, that the lack of context and lack of certainty is really making folks uncomfortable. And they are about to feel the impacts of this budget bill, which is going to completely change the fabric of communities and access to healthcare, amongst so many other things, and they are not having it.

6:01Ben Meiselas:The way I've been seeing these races, push back on me if you think I'm wrong here, is that people are done with flash and they want to see cash. Show me the money. Show me the results. Show me what you're really doing. The overall Trump thing, this con artist, this make-believe Hollywood script, this culture war with real implications hurting the communities, to me as I've been following your races, whether it's the The Lancaster race, the Iowa race, by the way, another Iowa race in August that could flip the super majority there. We should talk about that. The candidates that are saying, let's talk about your roads.

6:42Ben Meiselas:Let's talk about your kitchen table issues. Let's talk about the local factory that's being shut down. And then when the Trump candidates are all like, but the volley, the transgender volleyball player, can we talk to people like stop bullying? stop bullying transgender people. Address my issue, please. Are you seeing that? A hundred percent. You know, what makes this ballot level so special is that the folks for office are people who want to make a difference in their community. And they are there to show up for people and they are listening to voters. They are actually listening to voters. And what that means is that they understand that exactly what you said, right?

7:23People are like, how are you going to help me? How are you going to put more money in my pocket? How are you going to help me see the opportunity that gives me the kind of economic security that I can make good choices about my life? And that is exactly what our candidates are seeing. That is exactly the kind of discussion that we are having. That is why you are seeing numbers move towards Democrats across all of these different facets.

7:48Ben Meiselas:You know, to me, this Epstein issue that's exploded nationally, I think, though, is a proxy for a lot of other issues as well. I think it should be dealt with on its own terms because the heinous criminal conduct that was there of Epstein and Ghislaine and anyone else involved in that sex trafficking ring needs to be called out. But I think it's also poke this dent in everything where people are just like, you're covering up. You are a bad person. And I think people are like, you know what? This isn't red versus blue, Democrats versus Republican. This is good versus evil. And you're talking about pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell.

8:36Ben Meiselas:I mean, before we did this interview, I just saw this. This is I don't know how this is real life, but but but Salty, play this clip. He's got the latest from Washington for us. David, what else did Maxwell's attorney say? Well, he said a lot. We wish we could be in and hear what was said in the actual meeting. This meeting was a lot shorter than it was yesterday, but this was a two day event. The highlight, though, it appears that her team wants a pardon. Watch. We're going to take one day at a time. I know that's very cliche, but it's true because things are happening so quickly. We haven't spoken to the president or anybody about a pardon just yet.

9:16Ben Meiselas:And and, you know, listen, the president this morning said he had the power to do so. We hope he exercises that power in the right and just way. I think anybody watching it, you know, and to me, not in a political way, you're just like, I just want to grab the TV and just throw it. Like, what is this? Talk to me. Yeah. Yeah, no, I think you are right. And, you know, I think what's rooted in this is so many broken promises. Voters were sold a bill of goods by this president that he was going to focus on them. And what they're finding out now that he is only focusing on himself. He is focusing on his buddies, himself, his family.

9:59And that is where all of his time and attention is going. And the only people that are losing out on this is all the voters who thought that he was going to make a difference for their lives. And that is all coming to bear. And we are seeing that every single day in communities across the country.

10:13Ben Meiselas:So talk about what do we have coming up? What's on the horizon? I mentioned that Iowa race important because it could break the super majority there, which has implications. Basically, every Tuesday you have some election going on somewhere, a special of this or that. So you're getting more data in real time than really anybody because you're seeing the real results of how these votes are going, as I said, and the aggregate, a 10 point, 10 point overperformance. So if that holds up for the midterms at the federal level, I mean, we're talking about a pickup of 60, 70 seats if if that can hold or even grow.

10:52Ben Meiselas:And I'm not trying to get ahead of myself there. But what do we see on the horizon at the state and local level? Yeah, I love this question. You know, as you said, if it's a Tuesday, it's an election day. We've got a number of things on the horizon that are not only meaningful in their own right, but are meaningful in building this narrative as we move into the sort of official season of midterms. So we've got a couple specials coming up in August, one in Iowa, the Iowa Senate. It could break the supermajority there. We've got a special in Georgia. We're going to have races in Mississippi from their redistricting, new lines.

11:27We've got state Supreme Court races in Pennsylvania on the November ballot. That will have a redistricting implication. And then, of course, we've got the core races that are happening in November in Virginia and in New Jersey. seat. Virginia has a one seat majority. It is primed for really good conversations in those communities and real opportunity there. And we are excited about what that will tell for the future.

11:53Ben Meiselas:There you have it. I would love for you to come back on before some of those other races. And if you ever want to, this is how I exert peer pressure. If you ever want to write, I do it while we're doing the interview. If you ever want to write for our sub stack or have people in the organization, give updates with the data on MidasPlus.com and other things. I think it'd be helpful for people to really follow and see this. So every time these things are reported as surprises and shocks, let's just follow the data. Let's do what we can and all play our part. But we appreciate what you're doing at the state and local level.

12:28Ben Meiselas:Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. Thank you so much. Thank you. Everybody hit subscribed, let's get to 6 million subscribers. The truth is more important than ever. Check out our new truth over lies collection at store.midastouch.com. All 100 % USA union made.