Democrats in Congress have been clear that, if they take back the House or Senate next year, going after corruption in the Trump administration will be a top priority.
As the midterms approach, however, you wouldn’t necessarily know that from their campaign ads.
Yes, Democrats told MS NOW, they have no intention of letting up on their planned investigations should they take back the majority. And yes, President Donald Trump’s alleged corruption sometimes gets a mention in many of the television ads Democrats and their allies are running.
But in an effort to win over Trump-friendly voters, Democrats are increasingly talking about corruption without making Trump the central character, turning instead to more amorphous targets like Washington’s political system, congressional stock trading and the influence of special interests.
Take a $2.3 million ad buy in New Hampshire — one of the Senate seats Democrats almost certainly must hold onto if they want to control the Senate.
The 30-second spot rolled out by Defend the Vote Action fund — a Democratic-leaning organization — names “Donald Trump’s corruption” as one of the factors that has “broken” Washington.
But the ad for Senate Democratic candidate Chris Pappas never invokes Trump again. It instead pivots to corruption in Congress, saying Pappas is fighting to ban members of Congress from trading stocks and barring former members of Congress from becoming lobbyists.
“He knows cracking down on the special interests starts by ending the corruption and finally reforming ethics in Congress,” the ad says.
In many other campaign spots focused on corruption that MS NOW reviewed, Trump is never mentioned at all.
Consider Pennsylvania, where Democrats are eying four House districts they hope to flip in November.
Television spots in Pennsylvania’s 7th district declare that Democratic challenger Bob Brooks will stand up to a “corrupt political system.”
In Pennsylvania’s 10th district, Democratic challenger Janel Stelson has a spot touting her commitment to “stopping the corruption in Washington that raises costs here in Pennsylvania.” The ad lists banning stock trades and setting term limits among her priorities in Congress.
And in Pennsylvania’s 8th district, a new ad casts Democratic challenger Paige Cognetti as “fighting back” against “corrupt politicians and the system that benefits them.” The ad — a spoof of the ‘Law and Order’ opening montage — notably flashes an image of incumbent Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan with a label reading “corrupt politicians” under it. (Bresnahan has been dogged by questions about stock trades while in office, though he has asserted his trades were made by an adviser.)
The trend is repeated elsewhere. In an ad airing in Iowa’s 1st district, where Democrat Christina Bohannan is trying yet again to unseat Republican incumbent Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Bohannan says she will “clean up Washington” by banning stock trading and “first class travel” by members of Congress.
Democratic strategists tell MS NOW that this approach makes a great deal of sense in battleground districts, especially ones where Trump won two years ago.
“They don’t want to look kind of like overt partisans, just framing this issue around Trump,” Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett told MS NOW.
Hackett noted that each candidate has a different “remit” depending on their district.
“In a Trump plus 15, Trump plus 20 district that may look like taking on corruption across the board,” Hackett said, referring to districts by the margin Trump won in 2024. “In a plus one seat, that may just look like taking on Trump directly and calling out his corruption specifically.”
Of course, when a Democratic candidate mentions taking on corruption, Democratic voters may take that to mean taking on Trump. But a more independent-minded voter may hear about corruption and think about members trading stocks or cashing in after public service.
Polling suggests that voters see the corruption as more than just fighting Trump. Voters are in fact readily tying perceptions of malfeasance in Washington writ-large to the No. 1 issue they say they are wrestling with this cycle: the cost of living.
A recent survey by the left-leaning firm Navigator found 81% of registered voters blamed “corruption in government” for raising their personal costs.
Democratic strategists like Chris Meagher told MS NOW it’s smart for Democratic candidates to connect the dots.
“Yes, it’s corruption — but it’s also tying the corruption that we’re seeing directly to the impact on people’s lives,” Meagher said.
And CJ Warnke, the communications director for House Majority PAC, which works to elect House Democrats, told MS NOW in a statement that “across the House battleground, HMP is going to make the argument that Republican candidates are profiting for themselves while being bought and paid for by their donors — and that they refuse to do anything to address the cost-of living.”
There are plenty of examples of Democrats doing just that in their messaging — while again avoiding Trump explicitly.
In the closely watched Texas Senate race, where Democrats are hoping to end three decades of Republican domination in statewide races, candidate James Talarico is routinely tying fighting corruption to lowering costs.
“I’ll take on corruption and make this economy work for working people again,” Talarico says in one $7 million ad buy.
In another ad — part of a $5 million buy — Talarico says billionaires “own” politicians and pledges to “stop members of Congress from trading stocks.”
In Ohio, former Sen. Sherrod Brown and Democrats are running ads trying to cast the GOP incumbent as having corrupt ties to a utility company — despite incumbent Republican Sen. Jon Husted not being accused of any wrongdoing — while utility costs in the state have gone up.
Other Brown ads label Washington “rigged” to benefit “billionaires and corporations.”
Of course, there are exceptions to the overall trend.
Take battleground Georgia, where Trump won in 2024. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff is leaning into attacking Trump, while running to defend his seat in the upper chamber.
During recent campaign rallies — clips of which his team has shared on social media — he has cast Trump’s orbit as the “Mar-a-Lago mafia.” Ossoff has also raised questions about the president’s family and their business operations, openly suggesting they’re profiting off Trump being in the White House.
Predictably, some Democratic strategists expect candidates in the party’s safer districts to lean into a “fighting Trump” message — provided, of course, they run ads at all.
But with so few of these battleground candidates not leaning into taking on Trump — at least explicitly — where does this leave the party’s majority agenda next year?
It’s a question with implications beyond campaign messaging. If Democrats win the majority, how will they reconcile a campaign built around broad promises to fight corruption and lower the costs of living with a legislative agenda that Trump can stymie? And will they pivot back to arguing that their anti-corruption agenda is actually all about holding Trump and his administration accountable?
Democrats in Washington are adamant that just because Trump is not front-and-center in these ads, that doesn’t mean they’re backing away from plans to aggressively pursue oversight of the White House if they get the congressional gavels and subpoena power.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York — who is poised to become speaker if his party wins control of the House — continues to publicly list accountability as part of the Democratic agenda for next year.
And a Jeffries adviser familiar with his thinking told MS NOW to expect a “dual track strategy” starting in 2027.
“Democrats are going to rain hell on the administration with an accountability agenda, so you’ll see a number of public hearings and investigations,” this adviser told MS NOW, adding that Jeffries will be working “aggressively” with the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees to ensure they have the support they need to “haul in every single administration official who has broken the law.”
“You’ll also see on the other side a real affordability agenda, where Democrats are actively trying to find ways, for instance, to fix the broken health care system,” this adviser added.
In short, Democrats are trying to campaign on corruption without making every battleground race a referendum on Trump — while promising that, if they win, Trump himself will remain a central target of congressional oversight.
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