Steve Kerrigan, chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, spoke with NBC10 Boston’s Matt Prichard about how the party will rebound in the 2026 midterm elections.
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A tone of reflection is giving way to action as Massachusetts Democrats look to lead the national party toward recovery from a stinging loss to Donald Trump in 2024.
"We thought, 'We got this, everything is all set,'" said Massachusetts Democratic Chair Steve Kerrigan. "2024, we got beat, and if you look back, I would argue we never did the analysis to figure out who that voter was."
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Many have questioned whether former President Joe Biden stepped away too late in the election process and contributed to the party's uphill battle in 2024. Kerrigan says he thinks about that question often.
"I thought about it in the moment," said Kerrigan. "There's a lot of ifs and a lot of could-haves that went on around that circumstance. What I know is that Joe Biden will be recognized by history as one of the most impactful presidents in modern times."
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Reasons for the loss aside, the Trump administration is nearing its 100-day mark in office. Massachusetts Democrats have voiced concern about many of Trump's initial priorities.
"The sort of pillars of Massachusetts' economy are basically on his hit list — whether it's higher education, the health care industry, biomedical research, things like that," said Kerrigan.
But the state party has its own set of challenges — infighting between Auditor Diana DiZoglio and legislative leadership has created rifts among Democratic ranks.
Kerrigan is quick to set those spats aside.
"I'm glad to have more Democrats who are in the Legislature debating honest differences in policy with each other," said Kerrigan. "Glad to have that rather than having to explain away why we have a Republican statewide elected official."
Catch an extended version of NBC10 Boston's sit-down interview with Kerrigan on Sunday morning.
