Strong performances in states like Illinois, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Washington showed Democrats can sustain and win over rural areas, where Republicans have generally done well.Even in places like North Carolina, Georgia and Colorado, Democrats proved to be competitive, running up margins of past elections and flipping some districts, even if they did not always win.Goehl said that it's not likely that Democrats will win the majority of rural votes anytime soon, but "lot of blue dots in red places is a key part of how they win.""John Fetterman was able to mobilize the base and also engage voters outside of the traditional Democratic base, specifically voters in small towns and rural communities.""What we found is that really turned off base voters in Ohio and any of the gains that he was able to make up through those efforts were undercut by low turnout amongst the base.""