Jason Palmer predicts Democrats will use split messaging strategy by 2026

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

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

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

“I think what’s going to end up happening is the Democrats are going to form a bigger tent and accommodate different candidates in different areas based on the politics of those areas,” Palmer told Fox News Digital. “So you’ll see people who look more like Beshear in Kentucky throughout the Midwest, people who look more like Mamdani throughout Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, etc., but the Democratic Party will have different messages for different parts of the country in the 2026 elections.”

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Democrats scored victories across the country in November 2025, with centrist and left-wing candidates holding crucial positions. From left, New Jersey Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The former presidential candidate, who is running in the 2024 election cycle, said his party is making a mistake in its message about billionaires and corporations.

“Well, personally, I think they’re going too far in their anti-billionaire approach. America is a country where people can do whatever they want, and most of America’s billionaires didn’t inherit their wealth,” Palmer said.

“Business building is a vital part of what makes America great, and I don’t think the Democratic Party should go after business founders. I think we should be supportive of entrepreneurship and mission-driven entrepreneurship, in particular,” he added.

While Palmer raises the possibility of shared messages, he believes there is one issue that both Democrats and Republicans can support: conscious capitalism. He sees public benefit corporations (PBCs) as the way of the future as young people search for meaning.

“I think conscious capitalism is the direction our economy is ultimately going,” he said. “More and more young people want to work in companies with a specific purpose, and they accept that they are 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. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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When asked what drives young people’s need to find meaning in their work, Palmer said he believes purpose-driven work has come to replace religion for many. Although he is a Quaker himself, Palmer said he sees young people moving 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 businesses that provide that purpose and that sense of family, basically,” Palmer said.

Supporters of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani gather outside 30 Rock in New York on Thursday, October 16, 2025. (Fox News Digital/Deirdre Heavey)

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In order to implement conscious capitalism as real policy, Palmer suggested a two-step taxation process in Washington, DC. This would allow companies that have mission-driven principles and publish impact metrics to pay a lower rate than entirely for-profit companies.

With less than a year until 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 announced 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.”