Democratic voters grapple with concerns and fears as the 2026 midterms approach
August 2026
BY OLIVIA HINES
The Savage Tap in Savage, Minnesota was packed with nearly 200 people on this summer day–pint glasses clattered, children raced between the chairs and tables, popcorn kernels were strewn on the floor. The low hum of conversation turned into something louder, sharper as the TV screens in the bar were tuned to the main event.
Pamela Leehan, 73, of another nearby suburb, Prior Lake, leaned forward as she spoke. Her voice edged with emotion. It’d been less than two years since the death of her husband, she said, and joining a local political group was her way back into the world.
“I felt it was time for me to at least start getting out of the house,” Leehan explained. “They had the same values that I did. I found my people.”
“They” are members of a local chapter of the group “Indivisible”–one of more than 80 Minnesota chapters of the national movement. Formed after President Donald Trump’s 2016 election and revitalized following his 2024 reelection, Indivisible describes itself as a grassroots organization dedicated to organizing progressive voters, lobbying elected officials, supporting Democratic candidates and building local political engagement.
On June 14, the group gathered at The Savage Tap to watch another “No Kings” rally; unlike past protests in which Minnesotans took to the streets, this was just a livestream event, originating from New York City, and called “Rise Up, Sing Out: A Concert for the First Amendment.”
Pamela Leehan, 73, of Prior Lake, Minnesota says she joined Indivisible because “I found my people. I felt like we all had common values, and all of that is very important for me,” she says.
As the speeches on the TV screens alternated with musical performances, applause repeatedly erupted inside the bar. Attendees clapped when actress Jane Fonda urged Americans to remain engaged in democracy, and they cheered as singer Bette Midler encouraged them not to give in to fear or political exhaustion.
The Minnesota event attendees wished they were mingling with the NYC crowd.
“We’ve participated in every No Kings protest so far,” organizer Rachel Bryant said. “Our members really want to participate in actions, big and small.”
But Jesse Schuber, another organizer, said the bar gathering also served another purpose.
“There’s concern with the upcoming midterms,” Schuber said. “We need to re-engage people.”
With the 2026 primary elections nearing in early August, these residents of Minnesota’s Congressional District 2–a suburban stretch south of Minneapolis containing 34 large and small towns–are again at a partisan crossroads.
Minnesota is one of 14 states that has an August primary congressional election.
The 2026 midterms in November could change who controls the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate (currently both led by Republicans). The GOP currently holds a narrow House majority, meaning a relatively small number of competitive districts—including Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District—will once again determine which party controls Congress during the final two years of Trump’s second term. Minnesota’s primary election is Aug. 11.
A district in flux
For years, the 2nd Congressional District was reliably Republican. That changed when Rep. Angie Craig, a Democrat, won the seat in 2018 against conservative talk show host Jason Lewis, helping to shift the political balance.
Craig was re-elected three more times, steadily increasing her political standing while building a reputation as one of the country’s most successful Democrats in competitive suburban districts. Now, with Craig running for a U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota, the district is once again up for grabs.
Indivisible members Schubert and Bryant said the group overwhelmingly endorsed former Lakeville mayor Matt Little after surveying local members earlier this year. But they also acknowledged divisions among progressive voters, with some preferring labor organizer Kaela Berg.
“We would prefer, as a group, to not be represented by another moderate Democrat,” Bryant said.
That’s because, as Schuber explained, many members believe the stakes have only intensified since Trump’s return to office. She pointed to the administration’s expanded immigration enforcement, including controversial, high-profile Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minnesota, along with ongoing debates over federal spending, LGBTQ+ rights and education.
“It’s only been 18 months,” Schuber said. “But it feels like it’s been 18 years.”
For many in the room, the watch party was less about watching celebrities give speeches than preparing for what they view as a defining election.
Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan are duking it out to become the Democrats’ choice for U.S. Senator.
‘This is moral’
For Leehan, the midterms represent more than another election cycle. She said they’re about survival–her own, and others’.
“This is not politics,” she explained, her voice rising above the music and applause in the bar. “This is moral. This is about health care for people. This is about homelessness.”
Growing up as the oldest of eight children raised by a single mother in the 1960s, Leehan remembered when women faced legal and financial barriers that many younger voters know only through history books.
“My mom couldn’t get a credit card. She couldn’t own a home without a man saying it was okay,” Leehan recalled. “The only way she got ahead was working for cash under the table.
“I don’t want women to have to go back to that,” she said.
Leehan believes recent political developments—including the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the tightening of voter registration requirements through the proposed SAVE Act—reflect a broader effort to restrict rights she believed had already been secured.
If the SAVE Act were to become law, it would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections, adding new ID and verification requirements for both voter registration and voting. The act would disproportionately burden married women who legally changed their names, requiring additional documentation, such as a name change document or marriage certificate.
She also criticized immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, saying she worries the country has become less compassionate toward immigrants and vulnerable communities.
“They’re hard-working people,” she said. “Most of us came here because our families wanted a better life.”
“I was raised by a single mom,” she said. “I know what it’s like when people struggle.”
Around her, others voiced similar concerns.
“There are a lot of people who really feel compelled to do something,” Schuber said. “Like, ‘I can’t just sit here anymore.'”
That sense of urgency, Bryant said, has fueled nearly every aspect of the chapter’s work.
Every Saturday morning, members gather along the intersection of Highways 13 and 42 in the Savage holding handmade signs aimed at passing motorists. On the first Wednesday of every month, they unfurl oversized banners from a pedestrian bridge in Shakopee, changing the messages to reflect current political events. Between demonstrations, volunteers write postcards to voters, organize mutual aid projects, and attend candidate forums.
Members volunteer as election judges, attend precinct caucuses and conventions, and contact elected officials through advocacy campaigns. When the ICE surge happened, Bryant says members delivered meals and supplies to affected families.
“The group kind of morphs to meet the needs of the community,” said Bryant, a social worker who has lived in Shakopee since 2013. “When Trump won the first time, there was this panic of, ‘Who are my neighbors? Are there people who believe what I believe?'” she explained. “Now people come in and say, ‘I didn’t know there were this many people who shared my values.'”
Frustrations within the party
The anxiety among the group isn’t just directed toward the current administration; many attendees reserved some of their sharpest frustrations for Democrats they believe have failed to confront the administration forcefully enough.
Rep. Craig has cultivated a reputation as one of the Democratic Party’s most moderate members, often emphasizing bipartisan legislation and occasionally supporting Republican-backed measures.
Bryant called her “Republican-lite.”
Bryant pointed specifically to Craig’s vote for the Laken Riley Act in 2025, legislation requiring the detention (without bond) of undocumented immigrants charged with certain violent and non-violent crimes like burglary, shoplifting and assaulting a police officer. Many Democrats opposed the act, arguing that detaining immigrants who are only charged–as opposed to actually convicted–of a crime, denies their due process rights.
“Any yes vote just felt like caving,” Bryant said. “We want somebody who’s going to be bold and brave and strong—not give in on their values.”
Instead of Rep. Craig, members of the chapter overwhelmingly support Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan for the U.S. Senate seat (being vacated by Sen. Amy Klobuchar who is now running for governor). The national Indivisible organization endorsed Lt. Gov, Flanagan after consulting Minnesota chapter leaders, Bryant said. Local members also said her willingness to attend community events distinguishes her from other elected officials.
“She shows up,” Bryant said. “When people ask questions—even kids—she answers them,” Bryant said. “She’s authentic.”
Leehan, who described herself as a “working-class voter,” said she ultimately wants leadership that reflects lived experience. “Flanagan knows what it’s like to live on the bottom rung and work yourself up. I know she’ll fight for all of us.”
Flanagan first ran for an elective office in 2004 when she won a seat on the Minneapolis Public Schools board. In 2015, Flanagan was sworn in to the Minnesota House of Representatives before becoming Lieutenant Governor in 2018.
Rep. Craig has been endorsed by, among others, Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Transportation Secretary Peter Buttigieg, and local mayors like Jacob Frey of Minneapolis and Kaohly Her of St. Paul. Lt. Gov. Flanagan has been endorsed by, among others, Minnesota U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Former Minnesota U.S. Senator Al Franken, Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Minnesota Congressional Representatives Ilhan Omar and Betty McCollum, and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
As of August 6, most polling showed Flanagan leading Craig, but by slim margins.
Minnesotans drink beer and eat snacks with friends and family while watching the live Invisible event from New York City in June.
Fear and fatigue — tempered by community
As the afternoon wore on, the crowd laughed at jokes from the stage in New York and sang along during musical performances.
For Bryant, those kinds of moments are also incredibly important for the group.
“We have to find the time for joy,” she says. “It’s no use to anybody if we lose hope.”
That philosophy has become central to Indivisible’s organizing strategy. In addition to demonstrations, protests and rallies, the group regularly hosts coffee meetups, craft nights, and volunteer projects designed simply to help members spend time together.
Schuber and Bryant say those gatherings are what keep people engaged between elections.
“We’ve heard from people over and over again, ‘I didn’t know there were this many people who believed like I do,'” Bryant said. “They realize they’re not alone.”
Schuber said many members also joined because they wanted somewhere to channel feelings of anxiety and frustration into action.
“There are a lot of people who really felt compelled to do something,” she explained. “This gives people a place for community and a way to engage.”
That engagement extends beyond protests. Members volunteer as election judges, attend precinct caucuses and conventions, contact elected officials through advocacy campaigns and organize mutual-aid efforts for families in need. When the ICE surge happened, Bryant says members delivered meals and supplies to affected families.
The stakes beyond District 2
The urgency expressed throughout the afternoon reflected what many Democrats believe is one of the most consequential midterm elections in decades.
Attendees at the watch party believe that if Democrats regain control of the House, lawmakers will increase oversight of the Trump administration through committee investigations, slow or block portions of the president’s legislative agenda, and exercise greater influence over federal spending. They worry that continued Republican control of Congress would make it easier for the administration to advance policies they oppose, particularly on immigration, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ issues and federal social programs.
For Leehan, however, those national political calculations ultimately come back to ordinary people.
She, too, worries about seniors living on fixed incomes, young families struggling to afford housing, immigrants fearing deportation and women who could lose rights that previous generations fought to secure.
“I don’t believe this is politics anymore,” she said. “This is about humanity.”
As the livestream came to a close, applause once again filled The Savage Tap.
Some people lingered to finish conversations over another drink. Others exchanged hugs before heading home. Volunteers disconnected the livestream TVs and cleaned up the snack bar.
Leehan remained seated for a moment, quietly taking in the room.
Less than two years earlier, she had walked into her first Indivisible meeting grieving the loss of her husband. Her personal loss still weighs on her heart, but so does the fear of something greater.
“Of course I’m worried,” she said. “That’s why we’re here.”
Olivia Hines is a Reporters Inc. reporter and associate producer. You can read more about her here. She can be reached at oliviaannette2@gmail.com.
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