By Ailen Arreaza, Executive Director

In the last several weeks, JD Vance and Donald Trump have been seen attempting to tout what Republicans are doing for families. But in reality, they aren’t doing much.

By fixating on “parents’ rights” and cultural wedge issues, Republicans have made significant inroads with parent voters in the last several years. But their bluster is all a distraction from the fact that they offer none of the substantive support that parents actually need. 

Meanwhile, it’s the Democrats who are talking about affordable childcare, paid family leave, and relief from the high cost of living. With Vice President Kamala Harris’s commitment to care issues and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s family-centered populism, Democrats have a golden opportunity to win over parents with a credible vision for making it easier and more affordable to raise kids in America.

As Executive Director of ParentsTogether Action, an organization representing more than 3 million parents across the country, my advice to the Harris-Walz campaign is clear: the road to the White House runs through parents.

A data analysis ParentsTogether Action commissioned with Change Research shows that parents have drifted away from Democrats since 2020. It’s no wonder—Republicans have consistently spoken directly to parents’ feelings of overwhelm, even as their policies, like book bans and abortion restrictions, remain unpopular. 

This has left parents very much up for grabs. Polling this year shows parents are more likely than non-parents to split their votes and more open to switching their support. In our internal surveys since Harris became the Democratic candidate, 24% of parents in our audience said they remain undecided.

But there’s a clear path for Democrats to win parents back. Our survey of battleground parents found that 42% of Republican-voting parents would consider voting for a Democrat who connects with them as parents and supports family-friendly policies like paid leave, the expanded Child Tax Credit, and holding Big Tech accountable. In today’s polarized political climate, that’s significant.

Parents are struggling more than non-parents with economic pain and simply want to know who will offer the support they need—not just to get by, but to thrive. We noticed when Donald Trump was asked three times during the June debate what he would do to help families with the high cost of childcare, and three times, he refused to answer.

Conversely, Harris and Walz have a story parents will want to hear. In her very first speech as a presidential candidate, Harris prioritized paid leave, affordable childcare, and other care economy items that would be life-changing for families. As Vice President, she cast the tie breaking vote on the American Rescue Plan in 2021 that expanded the Child Tax Credit and cut childhood poverty in half. Raised by a single mother who faced the challenges millions of parents face every day, she understands what parents need and her priorities reflect what we want our leaders to focus on. Walz, too, has an extensive record of fighting for kids and families, from expanding pre-K to cutting taxes on the middle-class to establishing a child tax credit to cut child poverty in Minnesota by one-third.

The question is, will these issues be just another talking point? Or will they form the core of the Vice President’s strategy? Here’s how the Harris-Walz campaign can capitalize on this opportunity:

First, make parents a clear and consistent part of your strategy from here to November. Your economic vision for families should be a cornerstone of the campaign. Push back on unpopular culture war distractions and continue to drive the message about reproductive freedom with parents—because 6 out of 10 people who seek abortions are already parents.

And second, Democrats need to put a greater focus on parents in both internal and public polling. The focus on traditional demographics – such as race and age – is important in assessing the path to victory. But the best way to reach and move many of those voters is through their parent identity. Too often, parental status is overlooked or not even asked about. You can’t understand what you don’t see.

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz can be transformative for families. But if they want to win, they must center parents as a key part of their path to the White House.