Republicans are testing messages to reverse their suburban slide, and education is a winner

Trump remains the elephant in the room. Democratic operatives predict that the ex-president will continue to be toxic, especially as he keeps the door open to a 2024 run, and they hope that gun control, health care, climate change and voting rights will keep most suburban voters in the Democratic fold. Privately, many Republican leaders still blame Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud for depressing turnout and costing them both U.S. Senate seats in Georgia’s January runoffs.