Why were Democrats seemingly able to by and large defy history and avoid
a catastrophic result in the midterms? Across the country, Democrats
successfully defended seats that Republicans had confidently expected to
pick up, while also adding wins in gubernatorial races in five swing
states that flipped from Trump to Biden in 2020.

There are many explanations: backlash to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs
decision, exhaustion with Donald Trump and some of the candidates that
he backed, and a big turnout for Democrats among Gen Z and millennials.
The coalition of voters that turned out to oppose Donald Trump in 2018
and 2020 remained largely intact in 2022.

There were also a lot of races that turned on local issues where none of
these common explanations seem to tell the full story. We’re all going
to be unpacking the results for a while. So, we wanted to hear why these
Democrats think they were able to defy history. On this week’s episode
of Playbook Deep Dive, Ohioan and POLITICO Playbook co-author Rachael
Bade talked to Greg Landsman, a Democrat who on Tuesday, ousted 13-term
incumbent Republican Rep. Steve Chabot in Ohio’s 1st District.

Ryan Lizza is a Playbook co-author for POLITICO.
Greg Landsman is the representative-elect for Ohio's 1st Congressional
district.
Afra Abdullah is associate producer for POLITICO audio.
Kara Tabor is a producer for POLITICO audio.
Brook Hayes is senior editor for POLITICO audio.
Adam Allington is senior producer for POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is executive producer for POLITICO audio.