Jason Palmer predicts Democrats will use split messaging strategy by 2026

Democrats enjoyed a string of victories across the country in off-year elections, winning gubernatorial races and key offices in several state and local elections.

Despite the successes, the party’s future still seems uncertain, as more centrist candidates won in Virginia and New Jersey, while more left-wing candidates scored victories in places like New York City.

Jason Palmer, a former Democratic presidential candidate and co-founder of TOGETHER!, said the party’s future is “very much up for debate” — but not for long. He said he believes things will be clear over the next year, and he expects 2025 victories will lead to Democrats using divided messaging, meaning candidates and platforms will be chosen based on their likely voters.

“I think what will ultimately happen is Democrats will become a bigger tent and receive different candidates in different districts based on the politics of those districts,” Palmer told Fox News Digital. “So, you’ll see people who look like Beshear in Kentucky across the Midwest, and you’ll see some people who look like Mamdani across Vermont and New Hampshire and Massachusetts and so on, but the Democratic Party will have different messages for different parts of the country in the 2026 election.”

An ‘all-out battle’ is brewing in the DUP as Mamdani-style candidates rise in key races

The former presidential candidate, who is running for president in 2024, said his party is making a mistake in its messaging regarding billionaires and businessmen.

“Well, personally, I think they are going too far in their anti-billionaire approach,” Palmer said. “America is a country where people can make of themselves what they want, and most of the billionaires in America did not inherit their wealth.”

“Business building is a fundamental part of what makes America great, and I don’t think the Democratic Party should attack business builders. I think we should be pro-entrepreneurship and mission-driven entrepreneurship, in particular,” he added.

While Palmer has discussed the possibility of divided messaging, he believes there is one issue that both Democrats and Republicans can get behind: conscious capitalism. He sees Public Benefit Corporations (PBC) as the way of the future as young people search for meaning.

“I think conscious capitalism is where our economy is ultimately headed,” he said. “More and more young people want to work in purpose-driven companies, and they are OK with them being for-profit companies.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speak to reporters after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House about legislation to avert a government shutdown on September 29, 2025. (Wayne McNamee/Getty Images)

Meet the new “squad”: the next generation of progressive candidates for congress in the Trump era

When asked what drives young people to find meaning through their work, Palmer said he believes purpose-driven work has replaced religion for many. While he is a Quaker himself, Palmer said he sees young people turning away from organized religion and toward something else.

“I think a lot of people are trying to achieve their purpose through work, and there are a lot of companies that provide that purpose and that family feeling basically,” Palmer said.

Supporters of Democratic Socialist Zahran Mamdani gather outside 30 Rock in New York City on Thursday, October 16, 2025. (Fox News Digital/Deirdre Heavy)

Click here to download the FOX NEWS app

In order to implement conscious capitalism as an actual policy, Palmer proposed a two-step tax process in Washington, DC. This would allow companies that have mission-oriented principles and drive impact metrics to pay a lower rate than companies that are entirely profit-oriented.

With less than a year to go before the 2026 midterm elections, Palmer’s message to Democrats is to “look for younger candidates to run in purple districts across the country.” He also shared that he plans to release a list of young candidates he supports. He said the people on his list are in their 20s and 30s, have entrepreneurial backgrounds and believe in “conscious capitalism.”