As the limits of where Democrats hope to win in 2026 creep further into reliably red territory, party operatives have been turning more often to a wedge issue that helped Donald Trump win in 2024 — disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
In Kansas, a state that Trump won by more than more than 16 points that is now considered a genuine pick-up opportunity for Democrats, one advertisement slams Republican Sen. Roger Marshall for his September 2025 vote to block the Epstein files release.
“I expected our leaders to hear our stories and actually hold our abusers accountable. They’ve only let us down,” Marina Lacerda, an Epstein victim, tells the camera while a video of Marshall saying Epstein is “not of much interest” to him plays on the screen.
The issue is not new, but Democratic campaign groups are shifting the focus to places like Kansas, flooding the airwaves and social media feeds with spots about Republicans who stood in the way of quickly releasing FBI files about the dead sex trafficker, hoping the issue can tilt such reach contests into the blue column.
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More than 150 ads centered on Epstein have aired nationwide during the 2026 election cycle, according to a review by The Washington Sun. They began playing primarily in “toss up” districts and states across the country but increasingly are being deployed in states and districts that Trump won two years ago, often by wide margins.
And Democrats are expected to ramp up their messaging around Epstein in the final stretch before Nov. 3. The Democratic National Committee is planning a flood of Epstein-related ads in red states over the coming days, Axios first reported, targeting Trump’s base on platforms like Fox News and right-wing YouTube channels.
Epstein is a particularly salient issue for Republicans, said Dane Strother, a Democratic strategist, who described Democrats’ messaging around Epstein as “a layup.”
Throughout his 2024 election campaign, Trump campaigned on declassifying the Epstein files, and 82% of self-identified MAGA Republicans supported releasing all files related to the notorious financier, a 2025 Washington Post poll found.
“People feel deceived,” Strother said. “They fully expected these files to be released, and even the hardcore [Republicans] recognize they haven’t all been released. … We’re not talking about taxes, we’re not talking about privatizing schools, we’re talking about protecting children.”
Democrats have already moved that messaging into even deeper red territory. In Mississippi, a Republican stronghold where the Senate race shifted slightly in Democrats’ favor earlier this week, Democrats are targeting Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith for the same vote as Marshall.
“Senator Hyde-Smith, you voted to protect the sex trafficker who abused me,” Jena-Lisa Jones, another Epstein survivor, says in one spot running there. “If you vote to protect pedophiles, it’s time for Mississippi to pick a new senator.”
Most GOP senators cast the same vote to block the release of the files in September 2025, though both chambers of Congress later passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in a near-unanimous vote, following mounting public pressure.
In Colorado’s 5th District, a “lean Republican” seat, the family of the late Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre criticize Rep. Jeff Crank in an ad for “refusing to meet” with them following Giuffre’s death last year.
“Our own Congressman Jeff Crank refused to meet with us,” Giuffre’s sister-in-law Amanda Roberts, who lives in the district, says in the ad. “Then, when he had the chance to expose the truth and release the Epstein files, he repeatedly voted to cover them up.”
Recent polling has shown widespread dissatisfaction within the Republican base over the Trump administration’s handling of the files. Only 21% of Republicans said that the administration helped deliver justice in Epstein-related cases, a June Reuters poll found, a number that is at 10% across all Americans polled.
Strother added that in this year’s political cycle, Democrats may only need to flip a small portion of Republican voters to turn the tide in either chamber of Congress. That makes any issue unpopular with the Republican base important to exploit, he said.
“We need the 8% of [MAGA] voters to perhaps vote, in this case, Democratic, and this is an issue that penetrates red,” Strother added.
Republicans are pushing back. They have slammed Democrats for taking money from donors linked to Epstein. Filings released Wednesday revealed tech billionaire Reid Hoffman, who has been repeatedly connected to Epstein, was the top donor to House Majority PAC, the Democrats’ flagship House super PAC, in the last quarter.
One GOP ad that aired Wednesday in Pennsylvania in Rep. Rob Bresnahan’s “toss up” district against Democrat Paige Cognetti highlights the connection.
“Her lying ads are funded by anti-gun radicals and Epstein Associates. Paige Cognetti is basically Kamala Harris without the charisma,” one ad reads, with a picture of Epstein and dollar bills flashing across the screen.
The Democratic campaign group spent about $2.33 million on ads related to Epstein in nine districts, according to data from ad tracking service AdImpact.
“The soulless shills at House Majority PAC want voters outraged over Epstein ties while cashing checks from Reid Hoffman, who actually visited Epstein’s island,” Mike Marinella, a spokesperson for House Republicans campaign arm, said in a statement. “If these shameless Democrat candidates believed the ads HMP is running for them, they would reject its support and condemn Hoffman.”
Still, Strother said that such attacks have only benefited Democrats. His party has consistently led the narrative on the Epstein issue and spotlighting the financier’s unpopularity can only be beneficial, he added.
“Republicans are answering the attack,” Strother said. “When they have to stop and answer an attack, that means they’re not attacking, and Democrats are winning that debate. That’s exactly the debate that Democrats want to have.”
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