The headlines may make it appear that all the ideas belong to my colleagues on the far left and they drive the agenda.

But that’s far from reality. It was the electoral success of moderates that gave us divided government — Democrats holding the majority in the House and Republicans keeping the majority in the Senate.

At a recent town hall meeting in a rural Utah town of about 6,000 residents, I heard from hard-working Utahns about health care costs, transportation needs and retirement security. One man expressed his optimistic belief that his vote for me — a Democrat in deep-red Utah — would result in a representative loyal to his constituents, not to a political party or ideology. Heads nodded in agreement when I said that the title “representative” is also a job description and one that I am committed to fulfilling.

The reality is that I am in excellent company among the new members elected in 2018. More than 75 percent of the seats flipped last November belong to members of the Blue Dog Coalition or the New Democrat Coalition — the moderate wing of the party. These are people who, like me, campaigned on good governance and the promise to seek bipartisan solutions that can be achieved under divided government. These leaders are practical, reach-across-the-political-aisle legislators who appeal to the mainstream values of Americans.

My fellow New Democrat and Blue Dog Coalition leaders believe that Republicans have ceded huge territory in the center by abandoning opportunity and innovation and fiscal responsibility on debt and deficits. Moderates in Congress have an opportunity to be a strong, reasonable voice, in contrast to some of the reckless policies that, in truth, both parties have often pursued.

A moderate is not a liberal who lacks courage. Moderates see many points of view and listen for the reasons underlying differences, while searching for pragmatic solutions that can move us forward. It takes immense grit and a steel spine to stand for centrist principles and coalition-building at a time when ideologues on both the left and the right would reduce our options to all-or-nothing hashtags or an unrealistic, unaffordable grab bag of goodies.

After leading the House towards ending the longest government shutdown in history, by calling on all sides and the president to reopen the government and then engage in productive talks to fund border security — we’re gearing up for big, complex issues. Congress must work to expand coverage and bring down the costs of health care; preserve Social Security and Medicare; invest in our nation’s infrastructure; improve our air quality; and expand opportunity for good-paying jobs.

Our mandate is to be thoughtful and listen to commonsense voices. Fiscal responsibility must anchor our policies and we must act in a way that builds bipartisan support. That is what Utahns asked me to do. I take to heart the message from my election that the public is tired of partisan gridlock and expects me to be a productive member of Team Utah and put party politics and ideology aside.