Democrats are preparing for a crucial and challenging 2024. To win, now more than ever, we should take cues from successful local elections.

Unlike most elected officials in New York City, I’ve run and won in multiple competitive general elections against Republicans in races I was supposed to lose. And I’m far from your typical candidate.You may not think a kid covered in tattoos who spent a decade touring the world playing guitar in a punk band could win in a purple district, but I have — not once, but four times. Why? Because I focus on what matters: getting things done and doing everything I can to make life just a little bit easier for the working families who call my district home. I'm an old school, no bullshit politician — a proud Democrat who tells it like it is — but once the campaign is over, I don't care what party you belong to or who you voted for, my job is to serve all.

Indeed, it was the great Fiorello La Guardia who famously said, “there’s no Democratic or Republican way of cleaning the streets” and those are words I live by. But in this woefully tribal political climate, just because you’ve done your job doesn’t mean you’ll be re-elected. Quite the opposite. To win, I’ve had to outrun the top of the ticket every time. In 2017, I outran Democrat Mayor de Blasio by 23%. In 2021, we outperformed Democrat Mayor Eric Adams by 15%. Both times I won by razor thin margins. In my most recent election, despite endless warnings about another big "red wave", we blew it out of the water and won by nearly 20 points against a fellow incumbent who switched parties to benefit from the wave that never was. And we did all of this even as the Brooklyn Democratic machine was trying to kneecap me because I don’t kiss their rings.

Never taking a single vote for granted has always been at the core of our winning strategy. This year, we knocked on around 250,000 doors. Hell, I knocked on 4,000 doors myself. And you'd be surprised how much a knock on the door matters. I’ve never represented Coney Island, but I had so many people telling me, after living in the area for 50 or 60 years, I was the first politician to ever knock on their door to have a conversation and ask for their vote. And then I knocked on their doors twice more. But if you are sending hired guns onto streets they’ve never walked, those numbers don’t matter. My campaign was powered largely by volunteers — my neighbors — who were talking to their neighbors.

More perspective:Iowa caucuses should be a non-event. Voters should choose their candidates themselves

In the end, we won by nearly 20 points against an incumbent, and voter turnout was the highest of any race in New York City. It wasn't just the blood, sweat, and tears that won the day. Plenty of hard-fought campaigns still come up short. In 2024 Democrats need big wins across the country, from Staten Island to Sacramento, so here are the top four lessons I've learned:

In 2024 and beyond, if we stop taking voters for granted, focus on communicating and delivering real-world results, and run strong, hardworking candidates, Democrats can win in any environment, no matter the headwinds. Fake culture wars be damned.

Justin Brannan is a member of the New York City Council.