Viktor Orbán’s electoral loss was a slap in the face for Donald Trump and JD Vance, who had enthusiastically endorsed Europe’s most visible autocrat but proved unable to salvage his candidacy. But Hungarian voters’ 12 April rejection of Orbán also holds important lessons for Americans who hope to resist Trump’s own autocratic tendencies. As the November midterm elections approach, here are a few takeaways:

Prioritize opposition unity. Orbán was defeated by a broad coalition led by Péter Magyar under the banner of his new Tisza party. The opposition’s unity mattered. As some Democrats remain wedded to purity tests, refusing to make common cause with people who reject one or more progressive tenets, Hungarians from across the political spectrum joined hands in the shared goal of defeating Orbán. For them, the debate between right and left paled in importance compared to the need to redeem Hungary’s democracy. Some political parties even refrained from fielding candidates, sacrificing their immediate interests to avoid dividing the anti-Orbán vote.

Fight from the center. Hardly a progressive, Magyar comes from the center right, with conservative views on immigration and LGBTQ rights. For two decades, he was a member of Orbán’s Fidesz party before leaving to start Tisza. Some American progressives believe the best way to beat Trumpism is to turn left, hoping that a mobilized base will stem the tide on the right. But Magyar fought a centrist campaign, targeting the movable middle. The effort yielded a 79% turnout on election day, the highest since the collapse of communism in 1989, reaching across the political spectrum.

Economics matter. Like many autocrats, Orbán used social wedge issues in lieu of an economic program. He railed against immigrants, LGBTQ people, the European Union, Ukraine, even the philanthropist George Soros. Yet Magyar kept returning to economic themes – Fidesz’s endemic corruption, Hungary’s anemic economy, the decrepit state of infrastructure and public services. Those bread-and-butter issues resonated with voters more than Orbán’s diversionary appeals to social enemies. Democrats should do the same.

Divisiveness can backfire.........

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