One of those purple-district candidates, Democrat Rebecca Cooke of Wisconsin, told Semafor she has adopted a similar message in her campaign. She argued that President Donald Trump and Republicans like incumbent Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., have, instead of the cost of living, been focused on projects like the White House ballroom and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which she said amounted to “more of a waste of taxpayer dollars than actually addressing [Americans’] needs.”

There is a “deep distrust of government on both sides” in her district, she said, meaning that Democrats need to meet voters where they are. The issues of corruption and cost of living “go very much hand in hand,” she added.