President Trump is primarily responsible for the Republican shellacking on Tuesday. But to get over the finish line in so many places — across the Midwest and deep into the South – Democrats had to run the right candidates, and those candidates ran very different campaigns.

So how exactly did those Democrats do it? Michelle Goldberg, my colleague at New York Times Opinion, did amazing work this past year covering the biggest races — traveling to Texas, Michigan, Maine and other states, meeting with the candidates, and getting a sense of their campaigns on the ground. She joins me for a deep dive into the most exciting — and shocking — wins, and what they reveal about the new Democratic Party that will emerge out of this election.

Mentioned:

“Republicans Are Worried About Gina Hinojosa. In Texas, I Saw Why.” by Michelle Goldberg

“He’s Young, Talented and Openly Religious. Is He the Savior Democrats Have Been Waiting For?” by Michelle Goldberg

“Why Everyone Wants Jon Ossoff to Run for President” by Michelle Goldberg

“The Populist Left Has a Theory. We’re All About to Test It.” by Michelle Goldberg

Book Recommendations:

“Good People” by Patmeena Sabit

“The Feast of the Goat” by Mario Vargas Llosa

“The Man Who Loved Dogs” by Leonardo Padura

Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.

You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” atnytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed athttps://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.

This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris with Kate Sinclair and Julie Beer. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Aman Sahota and Gautam Srikishan. Our recording engineer is Aman Sahota. Cinematography by Bets Wilkins. Video editing by Steph Khoury, Dani Dillon, Brandon Belk-Yee and Julian Hackney. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Rollin Hu, Jack McCordick, Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Shows is Annie-Rose Strasser.

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