Candidates win when they run on affordable family care

This month’s elections sent a clear message: When candidates put reducing the cost of care at the center of their platforms, voters approve.

Democratic candidates won three high-profile races in part by championing a care agenda. In New York City, Zohran Mamdani won his mayoral race on the bold vision of publicly-funded child care for every New Yorker. In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill secured her gubernatorial win after championing the Child Care for Every Community Act, which caps family costs and raises wages for care workers. And in Virginia, Abigail Spanberger clinched the governor’s mansion on a campaign that named affordable child care and paid family and medical leave as essential to helping families make ends meet.

These victories, in locales and states with varying political demogr