Democrats Turn Iran War Votes Into Midterm Attack Ads on Republicans
Democratic candidates and allied groups are spending millions on ads tying Republican opponents to an unpopular Iran war and rising household costs, even targeting GOP hopefuls who never served in Congress and never cast a war vote.
Democrats and their allied advocacy groups are making the Iran war a central line of attack in the most competitive midterm races, spending an estimated $42 million on television ads that link Republican candidates to the conflict and to rising prices for groceries, gasoline and other household staples.
The strategy, which took shape in the spring when Democrats repeatedly forced votes on war powers resolutions, has now moved from the Capitol floor to the airwaves. An analysis of advertising data found that at least half of the 50 most competitive House and Senate races have featured Iran-related ads since Sept. 1, with the spots airing more than 43,000 times on broadcast and cable television.
Of the 65 distinct Iran-themed ads identified, 61 paired the war message with cost-of-living appeals, arguing that the conflict and related trade policies have driven up prices for fuel, food, cars and medicine. The ads are running in races rated as tossups or leaning toward either party.
In Wisconsin, one spot says a congressman «voted for the costly Iran war and spiking gas prices.» In Nebraska, Democratic candidate Chris Backemeyer accuses Republican Rep. Mike Flood of voting repeatedly for «Trump’s tariffs and the Iran war, flooding us with higher prices.» In Iowa, the group Vote Vets Action Fund says Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson voted five times for the war, «giving us record prices for gas and fertilizer.»
Some of the Republicans being targeted have never served in Congress and could not have cast any of the war powers votes. Democrats are nonetheless portraying them as likely rubber stamps for President Donald Trump on the conflict, arguing that their party loyalty would mean more of the same.
The votes themselves had little practical effect, but they forced lawmakers to go on record. The Senate has voted 14 times on resolutions seeking to halt or restrict military action against Iran, and the House has held six such votes since the conflict began in late February. In the most recent House vote, seven Republicans joined Democrats in favor of ending the war, including four incumbents in highly competitive districts: Tom Barrett of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn of Iowa. The yes votes from Miller-Meeks and Nunn were their first, a sign of growing unease with the war.
Republicans are largely avoiding the subject in their own advertising. Their spots have focused on taxes and crime, followed by character, health care and immigration. «Talking about the Iran war is really not a winning message because you’re playing on the Democratic turf,» said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean, who argued the better approach is to highlight Democratic weaknesses and motivate the party’s base while courting independents.
Some Republicans have tried to distance themselves from the conflict away from the airwaves. In Michigan, Senate candidate Mike Rogers has said the «war with Iran needs to end — and end quickly.» His Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, has run ads saying a billion dollars a day is going to a war «we have no business fighting.» In Maine, Republican Sen. Susan Collins stressed in a debate that she voted nine times to end the conflict, while Democratic challenger Troy Jackson countered that she voted five times to «make it happen.»
The concentration of Iran advertising varies sharply by district. In California’s 48th Congressional District, around San Diego, roughly a third of the 12,000 ads aired touch on the war. Democrats there are using a remark Republican Jim Desmond made early in the conflict — «no pain, no gain» — in a spot that asks, «Tell that to a family filling up their gas tank.» Desmond and the National Republican Congressional Committee responded with an ad that does not mention Iran but criticizes Democrat Marni von Wilpert over taxes and fees from her time on the San Diego City Council, while saying Desmond supports suspending the gas tax.
Virginia’s 2nd District, held by Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans, and Maine’s open 2nd District also rank high, with about a quarter of their ads touching on Iran. The pattern suggests the war is becoming a proxy for economic anxiety in races where control of Congress is at stake.
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