Corruption is everywhere in New Hampshire’s competitive Senate race.
Republicans in the state are hammering Rep. Chris Pappas’ for being married to a former lobbyist, accusing the congressman of casting votes “on Amazon’s behalf.” Democrats, meanwhile, are attacking John Sununu, the former senator, for “cashing in” by “helping big pharma and big oil make billions, while we pay the price.”
This pair of ads represent dozens of campaign spots, backed by millions of dollars in spending, that zero in on corruption. It’s becoming the central line of attack in the 2026 midterms, with both parties opting for it as their main cudgel.
“We’re seeing more of these kinds of ads than ever before,” said Robert Blizzard, a Republican pollster. “It’s across every age group, income level, a feeling that they’re getting screwed but the stock market is somehow high, so the frustration with politics-as-usual, the assumed corruption that goes along with that, is at a fever pitch.”
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Interviews with a dozen strategists from both parties, as well as private polling shared with The Washington Sun, reveal how anti-corruption campaigning has fundamentally changed this year. The messaging has long been popular with voters — but it didn’t necessarily determine their ultimate vote. This cycle, however, with an acutely frustrated electorate that blames both parties for what they see as a corrupt system, there’s an opening, these strategists said. It depends on linking political corruption to the voters’ own financial circumstances, turning it from an ethical problem into a financial one.
“As the candidate, you have to make clear that you’re going to take on corruption in both parties, including your own, and then you have to tie that corruption to costs going up for the voter, because what changes voting behavior is demonstrating the impact on them,” said Angie Kuefler, a Democratic pollster who has regularly briefed super PACs and campaigns on her corruption-related research. “Tying a bad, corrupt politician to rising costs is a double whammy, one-two punch, that connects to both the problem in politics and to their pain.”
The ads follow a similar script: Costs are rising because the opposing politician is taking donations from special interests, which then receive the green light to raise prices, on issues ranging from utilities to health care bills, while the politician turns a blind eye.
President Donald Trump doesn’t often get name-checked by Democrats in their corruption-centric ads against Republicans. But Democratic operatives argued that Trump’s personal enrichment in his second term has elevated the issue in the broader political environment. Trump’s self-dealing has reminded voters about what they dislike about a political system, they added, and has begun frustrating more than just Democratic voters.
“Trump, and his corruption, is baked in on everything, which is why the corruption piece is so good,” said one Democratic consultant who works on congressional races, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “You can link it directly to the candidates, and not make our ads just be about being anti-Trump.”
Or as one Democratic pollster said of the Trump administration: “They pushed it too far and pushed it past where normal voters are willing to put up with it.”
But the same pollster cautioned that Democrats have their own vulnerabilities on waste, fraud and abuse — particularly the Covid-era welfare fraud scandal in Minnesota.
“Corruption is an issue that cuts both ways,” said the pollster, who was granted anonymity to speak about the issue candidly.
Several strategists cited 2006 as the last midterm cycle to focus so much on corruption, a year defined by the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. But private Democratic research into how voters view corruption de-emphasized individual criminal corruption and fixed on legal, system-wide problems instead.
One research memo, produced for a Democratic super PAC and shared with The Sun, found that 52% of voters said the “most harmful” corruption involves “special interests, billionaires … acting within the law” to elect leaders who are beholden to them over “politicians breaking the law.” A third of those polled said criminal acts by individual politicians were more harmful than the influence of special interests.
And of white, non-college educated voters — a key demographic for both parties — 47% blamed the system over individual politicians.
Corruption is featured in TV ads in more than a dozen House races.
Republican ads hammer Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) for lavish travel “paid for by special interests” and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) for steering money to defense contractors, after “taking tens of thousands” from them. Democratic ads hit former Iowa state Rep. Joe Mitchell for voting to “expand tax credits for developers,” then “his real estate companies pocketed more than $3 million,” and Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pennsylvania) for being “caught selling stocks around his own votes.”
In some races, like in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, Republicans and Democrats have released dueling ads accusing each other of selling out voters. House Majority PAC, the flagship Democratic super PAC, is attacking Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colorado) for “slashing health care” while being “bankrolled by the health insurance industry.” The Congressional Leadership Fund, the prominent GOP super PAC, is up with an ad dinging former Democratic state Rep. Manny Rutinel for voting to get “automatic pay increases” in the state legislature while “you struggle to pay your bills.”
The messaging is even more prevalent in the Senate. In nearly every state with a competitive race — including New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Maine, Alaska, Michigan, Iowa, Texas and Minnesota — at least one candidate has recently run a corruption ad.
“I think there’s bipartisan anger that’s helped this bubble up to the surface,” said Calvin Moore, a Republican strategist. “It’s making the question in the race more about the individual candidates and their records, rather than an ideological argument, which puts more voters on the table.”
Political strategists emphasize that a direct message about affordability remains the top issue in the election. And both parties have poured millions of dollars into ads that focus on data centers, the Iran War and culture-war red meat.
But Democratic strategists interviewed by The Sun said repeatedly that they considered corruption a top three issue this year. And Republicans say the issue can play a key role in combatting a difficult political environment, training focus on local issues instead of voters’ misgivings about the direction of the country.
The red-leaning congressional map — where Kamala Harris only won three of the 40 or so most competitive House districts in the 2024 campaign — forces both parties “to reach across traditional partisan lines and talk about issues that are more character-based, rather than issue-based,” Blizzard, the GOP pollster, said.
For Democrats, it’s a matter of math. They have to win over at least some Republican-leaning voters. And for Republicans, “the political environment is so toxic for Republicans right now, your job is to remind Republican voters, who are depressed in these red districts and states, that these candidates are unacceptable alternatives,” Blizzard said.
It’s a rare message that unites voters of all backgrounds and ideologies in anger that can ricochet across party lines.
“Institutional members of Congress are very vulnerable to this because it’s a horseshoe-shaped issue that works well with voters in both parties,” said Rob Stutzman, a California-based Republican strategist. “Voters are in a zero tolerance mode for this.”
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