Democrats’ sweeping midterm victories have given potential 2028 presidential contenders a reason to seek a truce in the party’s ideological battles, even as progressives and moderates draw competing lessons from the results.

Several likely White House aspirants say voters are less interested in factional labels than in leaders who can address high costs and deliver results. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro told reporters at Crooked Media’s post-election conference that frustrated voters were focused on “how to get problems solved,” not whether politicians were on the left, right or in the middle.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore offered a similar assessment: “I think people want results.”

The Democratic wave was fueled more by anger over costs and the Trump administration than by allegiance to any single ideology. Candidates won difficult races as populists and pragmatists, with some attracting endorsements from both the moderate Blue Dog Democrats and progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a moderate who campaigned for progressive Abdul El-Sayed, told POLITICO that leaders arguing over which faction won were missing the election’s message: voters want cooperation on issues affecting the middle class.

California Rep. Ro Khanna said the results challenged assumptions about electability across the party. “Progressives were electable, and centrists were electable,” he said.

Post-election messaging reflects the shift. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s team described her as an effective voice for America’s working class, while advisers to Moore and Shapiro emphasized “common-sense governance” and “delivering results.”

Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod, who advised Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton in their presidential campaigns, said voters want authenticity and a fighter who can deliver, rather than perfect ideological alignment.

Still, the primary is likely to expose divisions. Progressives are encouraging Khanna and Ocasio-Cortez to run, while the centrist group Welcome argues that center-left voters offer a viable base in a crowded field.

Khanna, who co-chaired Sanders’ 2020 campaign, said he remains proud to call himself a progressive and a New Deal Democrat. But he welcomed a contest of ideas: “Then it’s for the American people and the primary to decide.”