Why winning the suburbs could come back to haunt the Democrats

Suburban moderates are probably not on board with the Democrats' best ideas

Houses.
(Image credit: Illustrated | benkrut/iStock, javarman3/iStock)

The 2018 midterms are upon us. And it's increasingly clear that if Democrats take the House, or even the Senate, they will have suburban voters to thank for it.

Of course, by "suburban voters," what we really mean are upper-class whites. Historically, these voters have been a bastion of GOP support. But as President Trump doubles down on fear-mongering and outright racist nationalism, more and more of these voters — and upper-class white women in particular — appear ready to flee the Republican Party. That in turn is opening up a wealth of opportunities for Democrats.

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Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.