Democrats running in some of the most competitive House districts say they’d make restoring federal funds to food aid a top priority if they win control of Congress.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has become a key part of Democratic messaging around affordability and economic concerns. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee put out mobile billboards targeting vulnerable Republicans in Arizona, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New York and Texas over their votes for last year’s reconciliation bill, which cut SNAP funding. Beyond dinging their opponents, multiple Democratic candidates are promising to bring those funds back.
“Restoring SNAP funding is a top priority because this is about feeding kids,” Lindsay James, the Democratic nominee in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, told The Washington Sun. “This is about making sure that hard-working families in my state and in this district have the support that they need to build the life that we know their kids deserve.”
SNAP, the largest anti-hunger federal program in the nation, is set to lose about $187 billion in federal funding over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The reconciliation bill also increased requirements for participants and shifted costs to states. Since that bill became law, participation has fallen by more than 5.5 million people, including an estimated 2 million children, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank.
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James’ Republican opponent, former state Rep. Joe Mitchell, was not in the House during the reconciliation vote, but the Democrat is still attacking him over cuts she says make working families and children more vulnerable to hunger. Mitchell did not respond to a request for comment. (Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, who did vote for the reconciliation bill, is vacating the seat to run for the Senate.)
Manny Rutinel, the Democrat running for Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, is also using SNAP cuts to go after his Republican opponent, Rep. Gabe Evans, and his support for the legislation and the Trump administration’s policies.
President Donald Trump and Evans “cut SNAP and took food away from hungry children to give tax cuts to their billionaire donors,” Rutinel told The Sun in a statement.
Evans did not respond to a request for comment. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly defended the SNAP changes in the reconciliation package, saying the law “prioritizes American citizens, and implements reasonable cost-sharing measures with states to crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Democrats say they have a plan for SNAP beyond attacking their opponents’ vote for the legislation.
“Democrats must prioritize reversing SNAP cuts and cutting burdensome red tape on the program that make the process impossible to navigate,” JoAnna Mendoza, the Democrat running to unseat Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani in Arizona, told The Sun in a statement.
Arizona has seen the largest decline in participation of any state, with enrollment dropping nearly 51% from July 2025 to July 2026, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. Arizona’s SNAP agency has said much of the decrease stems from the state’s struggles to implement the new federal requirements for the program. Ciscomani, who also voted for the package, did not respond to a request for comment.
Democrat Bob Brooks, who is challenging Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania, said Democrats are better positioned to address and reverse the cuts.
“We need more people in Congress who actually understand the challenges working people are facing,” Brooks told The Sun. “This issue isn’t a hypothetical to me. I understand it, because I’ve lived it myself. I’ve relied on food stamps to put food on the table.”
“I’ll push to restore every dollar of SNAP… funding that Mackenzie voted to slash,” Brooks said.
Mackenzie did not respond to a request for comment.
The farm bill could address some of Democrats’ concerns, particularly on costs shifting to states. But the Senate still needs to make a deal, and Democrats are considering alternatives to reverse some cuts.
“I am going to continue pushing to pass my legislation to reverse the Republican cuts so our brothers and sisters can access the support they need,” Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico), ranking member of the Senate Agriculture subcommittee on food and nutrition, told The Sun in a statement.
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