In the year since President Trump and the GOP's decisive 2024 victories, Democrats have been grappling with a central question: how to chart a path out of what many in the party have described as the political "wilderness." 

A series of wins in 2025 — from New York City to California, New Jersey and Virginia — has eased some of that anxiety. While Democrats' over-performance in these races came largely in blue states, party operatives say the victories have offered needed momentum and a sense of direction after last year's bruising losses at the hands of Republicans left many Democrats feeling adrift. 

In a wide-ranging interview with CBS News, Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said he believes the party's rebuilding process remains far from complete, but that it has taken steps to correct the direction. 

"I won't feel like we're out of the wilderness until we win in '28," Martin said. "Our motto at the DNC is all gas, no breaks. We're not gonna rest until November of 2028 and we've got a lot of work to do between now and then."

But Martin said he feels "buoyed" by the off-year wins, including at the local level. Democrats won governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia by double-digit margins last month, after losing ground to Mr. Trump in both states in 2024. And a Democrat lost a special election for a House seat in middle Tennessee last week by 9 points, well below the GOP's 21-point edge last year.

"As we go into 2026, certainly, I wouldn't trade our place with the Republicans in a million years," he said, "because we've got wind at our back."

With the midterm elections less than a year away, Martin argued that Mr. Trump's policies have created political vulnerabilities for Republicans. He pointed to recent polls that show that some groups who shifted toward Mr. Trump last year, including young voters, Latinos and independents, are souring on his economic message. 

"His tariffs are wreaking devastation throughout this country," Martin said. "People's lives have gotten much worse than they were a year ago. He's going into the election with the lowest approval rating for any president in the history of this country."

When asked about Democrats' prospects in the 2026 midterms and if it could be a "wave" election year, as some Democrats have predicted, Martin said the possibility exists — but insisted the party cannot just rely on national headwinds and 2025 gains, which were won primarily on friendly blue turf.  

"Could it be a wave election? Sure, but we're not going to rest on that," he said. "If we do our job and we take advantage of the opportunity, we will win again. I'm confident we're going to win again. I'm not complacent."

Democratic leaders have expressed to CBS News that they hope the party's recent run of victories signals a broader political opening. But, Martin emphasized, they believe their path back to national power will require sustained yet simple message discipline heading into next year's midterms, including on the issue that has defined this year's cycle: affordability. 

Martin cited candidates' focus on affordability and kitchen table issues in 2025 as crucial to Democratic wins and said that same focus will be essential for success in the midterms and beyond. 

"If all we're doing is resisting Donald Trump, then the one thing we're not doing is giving the American people a sense of what the Democratic Party stands for, who we're fighting for and why," Martin said. "The reason why those people who voted for Donald Trump have now voted for us is because we're talking about the issues that they're concerned about."

History could be on Democrats' side next year. Midterm elections almost always favor the party that doesn't control the White House, and Democrats hope that Mr. Trump's approval ratings could give them a boost. Republicans control the House by a razor-thin seven votes, so the lower chamber could shift to Democratic control if only a small handful of seats change hands in 2026.

Flipping the Senate, which the GOP controls by a 53-47 margin, could prove a more challenging task next year, with only a handful of plausible opportunities for Democrats to win GOP-held seats.

And there remain disagreements within the party over whether Democrats are better off embracing a progressive platform or choosing a more centrist tack. This year's races haven't delivered a clear verdict on that score. Moderate candidates Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill won the gubernatorial races last month in Virginia and New Jersey, respectively, but on the same night, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral race.

Martin was asked about progressive firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett's entrance Monday into next year's high-stakes Senate race in Texas, and whether he is concerned she might be more viable in a Democratic primary than in a general election. 

Crockett has built up a national following in recent years, powered by her frequent cable news appearances, viral arguments with Republicans during committee hearings and clashes with Mr. Trump. She's also known as a prodigious fundraiser. 

During a rally Monday to launch her Senate bid, Crockett cast herself as a fighter who could boost voter turnout, and emphasized that she wouldn't have entered the race if she didn't think she was the strongest candidate.

Recent public polling has shown has shown Crockett and her top primary opponent, Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, losing to all three of the main Republican contenders in a hypothetical Senate matchup, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.

"Everyone knows Crockett will be soundly defeated," Paxton said in a statement.

Republican political committees were also quick to pounce with senior Republican officials telling CBS their party was eager to face her in a general election if she were to win the nomination.

"Jasmine Crockett leading her primary is the latest sign that the Democrat Party is being run by radical leftists," The National Republican Senatorial Committee's communications director Joanna Rodriguez said, adding that Republican incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, whom they are backing, is "the only conservative who will keep Texas red."

"Crockett is electoral kryptonite and now vulnerable Texas Democrats are stuck sharing a ticket with her," Reilly Richardson, spokesman for The National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans' political arm, also told CBS News.

Some national Democrats expressed doubt that she would pull off a primary win. 

"I don't know if she wins the primary," one top Democrat strategist, who advises congressional campaigns, told CBS News. "But she could catch fire … The moment [Democrats] are in is for righteous anger, so that to me is the X factor here in terms of her ability to tap into that."  

Martin was firm that it is up to Democratic voters to determine the nominee, and that the DNC's responsibility is to respect those results and back the candidate they choose.

"I've always viewed our role as not to put our thumb on the scale," he said. "The role of the Democratic Party is to respect Democratic primary voters … the people who show up and say, 'This is who we want to represent us on the ballot in the fall election.'"

Martin said once voters decide on a nominee, the national party's responsibility is "to fight like hell for whoever that nominee is, including candidates we might not agree with all the time" — even if primaries get "messy," he added, which is likely in the Lone Star electoral matchup.

Republicans are expressing confidence in their own approach. NRCC Spokesperson Mike Marinella argued in a statement that Democrats are "splintered."

Marinella continued: "their messy primaries are a socialist free-for-all, and voters are constantly reminded that the Democrat Party is on the wrong side of every single issue."

When asked whether the DNC can realistically compete with the massive $1 billion war chest Mr. Trump's political operation, GOP and aligned super PACs have amassed ahead of the midterms, Martin pointed to the DNC's recent financial strategy as evidence that the party is not shying away from the challenge.

"I never measure our fundraising to the other side, and this is critical because at the end of the day, we need the resources to compete," he said. "We need the resources to make deep investments, … which we have this year. We need the resources to not only build the type of infrastructure around the country, but to do it in a way that's sustainable and again allows us to win. And you know, if we weren't winning as a result, I would be concerned." 

Martin also spoke about the $20 million loan the DNC took out earlier this year, prior to the November elections. He said this loan helped the party win key races and set the party up well for fundraising for the upcoming cycles. He said the party has raised over $95 million this year.

"I made a big bet this year, and that was that we were going to take out a loan so we can invest heavily in these elections a month ago, and we won big," Martin said. "We feel really good about where we're at, and nothing's slowed us down in the sense that we can't do the work that we need to."