Democratic governors plan to focus on "kitchen table" issues, not Trump, in 2022 elections

A month after Democrats lost the Virginia governor's race and just squeaked out a victory in New Jersey, they're trying to retool their message on "kitchen table" issues and working to tout the benefits voters will reap from President Biden's agenda, as they prepare for 36 governor's races in 2022.

They're shying away from the topic of former President Donald Trump, after years relying on him to motivate Democratic voters to get to the polls. That approach flopped with swing voters in Virginia, who helped elect Republican Glenn Youngkin to be the state's next governor.

"We've got to find our way into more kitchen tables. We have to get into the conversations at night that families are having about what government does, what it means to them, to make it less abstract and more real," said New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who won his reelection in New Jersey by 3.3%, a figure he admitted was tighter than he expected it would be.