How Candidates Have Addressed Affordability in the Midterm Campaigns
Inflation and the cost of living have been the biggest drivers of campaigns this year, but the broad term “affordability” breaks down into specific issues, from housing to health care.
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Inflation and the cost of living have been the biggest drivers of campaigns this year, but the broad term “affordability” breaks down into specific issues, from housing to health care.
Sept. 13, 2026, 5:00 a.m. ET
Affordability has become the buzzword of the midterm campaigns.
Around the country, candidates are trying hard to relate to voters’ economic pain. But Republicans are handicapped by the grind of war, promises they made on inflation during the 2024 campaign and a president who alternatively insists that prices have declined and then dismisses the issue as a con job created by Democrats.
Democrats may still have to answer for inflation that hit a four-decade high as the Covid-19 pandemic was receding; Republicans continue to blame today’s economic woes on the Biden administration.
Though the overall economy is resilient — 162,000 jobs were added to the market in August — voters across the political divide rank the cost of living as a top issue in public polls. Even those who can comfortably cover the basics worry about their economic future.
“Candidates are responding to what people are feeling, what people know on a day-to-day basis and what they see at the grocery stores or gas station. You can’t out-message their reality,” said Todd Belt, a professor at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management.“We are now seeing more specific, material ways the candidate plans to make things better.”
The basic pitch
“I feel your pain.”
Video
How Political Candidates Talk About Affordability
Democrats seized on affordability as a five-alarm crisis, recasting an issue that helped propel Mr. Trump’s return to the White House into a midterm weakness for Republicans. Voters have expressed deep skepticism of President Trump’s handling of the economy.
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Originally published by nytimes.com. Syndicated material does not necessarily reflect the views of Glamour Canada.
