“In just a few weeks, special elections will take place in Florida for two previously Republican-held House seats,” an email blast from actable says. “Let us explain why these campaigns are so important:…Republicans’ House majority is razor thin. Any Democrat we elect right now is another Democrat fighting against Trump and his allies’ extreme, harmful agenda…Like DNC Chair Ken Martin has said, part of his vision is to compete everywhere — and especially as Democrats continue to overperform in special elections throughout the country — we need to do our part to compete in Florida this April…Now, to tell you a little bit more about these races:…Gay Valimont for FL-1: Gay Valimont is running to fill a house seat that was vacated by Matt Gaetz. While navigating the terminal illnesses of both her husband and son at the same time, Gay saw firsthand how broken our health care system is for too many people. In Congress, Gay will fight to expand access to affordable health care and to bring down prescription drug prices…Josh Weil for FL-6: Josh Weil is a proud single father and public school educator who wants to help the people of Florida, protect schools, and make a brighter future for all of us. He wants to protect our environment, fix health care, lower prescription drug prices, keep up with inflation for seniors living on a fixed income, and make our economy work for working people — not just the rich.” Donate here.

“Could Low-Wage White Workers Spark Trump’s Undoing?,” Rob Okun asks at Ms. magazine, and writes: “If an unelected technocrat can delete the financial commitments of a government established for the people and by the people—and we don’t say anything—we betray our moral commitments to liberty,” [Bishop William] Barber underscored…Indeed, the Republican tax plan would attack those who are most economically vulnerable. The plan calls for cutting around $880 billion from Medicaid over 10 years, callously ignoring the 72 million people enrolled in the program and the seven million in the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Barber points to a new study, “The High Moral Stakes: Our Budget, Our Future,” to illustrate these consequences, detailing that, “about 39 [percent] of the enrollees in Medicaid are white, 18 [percent] are Black, 29 [percent] are Latino, 4.7 [percent] are Asian…”…Based on these statistics, 40 percent of everyone on Medicaid is white. So while Trump won with a significant portion of white, working-class voters, his policy in office may sway them to join a burgeoning resistance movement once they’ve absorbed the reality of his eviscerating cuts to Medicaid…Ultimately, having these white, working-class voters in the fight against Trump would be critical to further building up the movement. The next step, according to Barber, is to call this community and others to action. “We abdicate our own moral capacity if we walk away from this moment. And we’re not going to walk away from this moment,” Barber said. “The only way a king becomes a king is if you bow. And we cannot bow. Bowing is not in our DNA. We have to stand in this moment.”

Commentators blithely bandy about the term “middle class,” and what it means context of national politics. But there are significant differences between regions and states. Nicole Spector explains “How Much Money Is Needed To Be Considered Middle Class in Every State?” at gobankingrates.com. Of course these figures reflect  the cost of living in each state to some extent. “How much money do you need to be considered middle class?,” Spector asks. “It might take more money than you think to reach this income tier. The Pew Research Center defines the middle class, or middle-income households, as those with incomes that are two-thirds to double the U.S. median household income…However, because the cost of living and average income vary so widely from state to state, the income needed to be “middle class” in one state could be much more or less than what it takes to be middle class in another.” Here’s the middle-class income for every state (Here’s our sample from the “A” states to provide a sense of the range):

Factor in mobility, and you have a helluva mess that makes you wonder about the value of “national” income data.

An excerpt from “2026 reset: How Democrats are plotting to regain power: Expect to hear a lot about Medicaid, Elon Musk, and the working class over the next two years” by Cami Mondeaux at Deseret News: “House Democrats are gathering in Leesburg, Virginia, this week for their annual policy retreat where party members discuss messaging and strategy for the upcoming year…Democrats are scrambling to regroup and pinpoint their messaging tactics before the 2026 cycle begins in earnest….Much of that message will focus on the Trump administration’s efforts to slash government spending, particularly multibillionaire Elon Musk’s role in purging the federal workforce. Democrats have already started their attacks by accusing Republicans of seeking to dismantle Medicaid and other welfare programs — and party leaders are hoping to make those concerns a top issue…“Our job over the next 21 months is to make sure that voters are hearing this message loud and clear, and we’re going to keep repeating it over,” Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., chairwoman of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, said on Wednesday…House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., reiterated those plans, telling reporters the party would focus their message on supporting the working class while accusing Republicans of working for the wealthy, with Musk as a prime example…Meanwhile, a few Democrats I spoke with said they want to hear more from party leaders about outreach tactics, noting that’s become a major discussion point in the aftermath of the 2024 election.“…I think a big reason we lost (in 2024) was around communications, and they’ve already really been talking a lot about that (and) what we did wrong,” Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., told me ahead of the retreat. “Republicans really outflanked us on the podcasts and those networks. They had all these top podcasters I’d never even heard of until the day after the election.”