Pennsylvania LG Austin Davis says Democrats must ‘listen’ before writing ‘policy prescription for everything’

Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis, who was elected the new chair of the Democratic Lieutenant Governors’ Association (DLGA) on Tuesday, believes the Democratic Party could learn a thing or two from other lieutenant governors across the country.

As Democrats work to rehabilitate their party after Vice President Kamala Harris’ devastating loss, and their loss of complete control in Congress, Lt. Governor Davis told theGrio during a recent interview that the answer for Dems will come down to state and local levels. 

“We need a Democratic Party and a national party that’s focused on winning and organizing everywhere, building the bench from the bottom up,” said Davis, 35. “I think that’s one of the things that Republicans do so well; they start at the local, municipal level and go all the way up.”

He continued, “We have to make sure that we’re supporting candidates from state legislature to lieutenant governor and all the way up.”

As the newly elected chair of the Democratic Lieutenant Governors’ Association, Davis hopes to position Democratic LGs to help the party solve its electoral challenges, evidenced by the 2024 election, including declining support from working-class voters.

“The first thing we need to do is not try to solve the problem. We need to really do a deep dive with these communities and listen to what they’re saying; listen to the policies that they’re looking for from their leaders,” said Davis, who noted that Democrats failed to “understand the economic pain that people were feeling, and really put out a plan that spoke to folks’ concerns around that.”

He said of Democrats, “I think sometimes we try to write a policy prescription for everything. The one thing I’ve learned as an elected official, I can’t be a good leader unless I listen to the people I’m there to represent. And I think that’s what we really need to be doing as a party in this moment.”

For future elections, Davis said Democrats have to think about running candidates who have “real, lived experiences,” like many of the nation’s Democratic LGs.

“We’re at a crossroads, clearly, as a party, and we have a tremendous opportunity to invest in and build up the next generation of leaders in our party,” said Davis, who noted the club of Democratic lieutenant governors is “extremely diverse,” which includes some of the nation’s first Black LGs like Garlin Gilchrist of Michigan, Sabina Matos of Rhode Island, and several other Black and brown lieutenant governors.

Davis emphasized the diversity of the members of DLGA, which represents more than half of the U.S. population, goes beyond race and gender — they’re also diverse in their overall backgrounds.

“I’m the son of a union bus driver and a hairdresser,” Davis told theGrio. “Kim Driscoll from Massachusetts is the wife of a bricklayer. Sarah Rodriguez [Wisconsin] is a nurse. I think what we learned from this last election is we need candidates who have real, lived, similar experiences to everyday Americans. And I think our Democratic LGs represent that,” said Davis. “Democratic LGs are getting things done all across the country and delivering for working families alongside our governors.”

He continued, “They’re able to connect with voters in a different way. It’s going to be important for us moving forward to not just bring new people to the Democratic Party tent, but to continue to make sure that the people who have been with us traditionally feel like they have a home in the Democratic Party.”

But as Democrats work to repair their relationship with working-class voters, it’s also important that they don’t alienate their base: Black and brown voters.

“My dad used to have a saying when I was growing up, you don’t get rid of your old friends when you make new friends,” said Davis, who added, “We need to make sure that the Democratic Party is a place where every person feels heard, seen and supported.”

LG Davis said that the DLGA is particularly focused on potential future electoral success in flipping Virginia’s lieutenant governor’s office — currently occupied by Virginia’s first Black LG, Republican Winsome Sears — from red to blue, and retaining the New Jersey LG office, which is occupied by Democrat Tahesha Way. The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association, he said, will also lift up critical policy issues like gun violence prevention, Black maternal health, and overall quality health care.

As for the role LGs could play amid President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans having total control in Washington over the next two years, Lt. Gov. Davis told theGrio that while Democrats are willing to “work together where we can,” they will not “hesitate to push back loudly when we feel like our values are being threatened.”

“What you’re really going to see as a result of, quite frankly, a lot of dysfunction that’s going to come out of Washington is… lieutenant governors leading in their respective states,” said Davis.

He added, “As Democrats, we may have lost the election, but we didn’t lose our values, and we’re going to continue to stand up and fight for real freedom in our respective states and to make sure that we’re fighting for working-class families.”