Republicans and Democrats held separate war camps last week to plan their political strategies under President Donald Trump’s administration as both parties are gearing up for the midterm elections.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) congregated in Atlanta, Georgia, over the weekend and elected former Labor Secretary Tom Perez as the party’s new chairperson, according to The Hill. Perez defeated Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, a favorite of Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in the second round of voting.

The new DNC chair is charged with uniting the Democratic Party and motivating its members to reclaim legislative seats across the country. Republicans have 25 trifectas, which are state governments controlled by one political party, and Democrats have six, according to Ballotpedia. Republicans also control the U.S. House of Representatives with 238 of 435 seats and control the Senate with 52 of 100 seats.

Pennsylvania is one of several states with a Democratic governor and a Republican legislature. Trifectas allow political parties to move legislation through the checks and balances of government fairly smoothly, but states like Pennsylvania may see gridlock in passing laws and a new budget.

Nationally, Republicans have the most executive and legislative power, but the party also demoralized its rivals. The 2016 election came as a blow and shock to the DNC, which was hoping for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to continue former President Barack Obama’s legacy.

The only small pocket of power the DNC maintained was enough senators to slow Trump’s cabinet nominees. Until the 2018 midterm elections, Democrats will have to rebuild party support and convince the nation they made a mistake putting Republicans in charge.

Perez must reenergize common liberals who supported Clinton and rally progressives who backed Sanders for a unified front. That may not be easy considering the DNC pushed Sanders to the side in the primary elections and voted down Ellison for party chair.

Trump might be able to help the Democratic Party survive and even thrive throughout the next decade. The president is fostering so much resentment that moderate liberals and far-left progressives can ignore internal differences to focus on reclaiming the White House.

Perez wasted no time in blasting Trump, calling him the worst president in United States history, according to the New York Post. But Perez also moved to unite the party by saying he would name Ellison as the DNC’s deputy chairman.

“We don’t have the luxury of going out of this room divided,” Ellison said at the DNC conference, according to the New York Post.

The DNC swiftly rallied its forces, narrowing down candidates for party chair from seven to one in a matter of days, but many challenges lay ahead.

While Democrats only finished licking their wounds from the last election cycle, the Republican National Committee was meeting at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) to prepare for a bright four years.

Trump and White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon dominated the CPAC with speeches aimed at convincing Republicans to rally toward a new form of conservatism. The New York Times reported Bannon laid out the framework for the future of the Republican Party while Trump energized the party’s base.

The CPAC came days before Trump is to give his first speech in front of a joint-session of Congress. Typically, the speech, which will be given today, would be called the State of the Union Address, but new presidents do not officially give that speech until after their first year in office.

Trump may use the opportunity to be more flexible to talk about his plan for the presidency and party instead of just focusing on the country.

The weekend’s conferences were timed perfectly for each party to prepare for the anticipated speech, and both sides will be calling on Americans to either support it or disavow it.

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