Democratic Senate candidates across multiple battlegrounds are centering 2026 campaigns on affordability, arguing Republicans have driven up prices for groceries, gas, utilities and health care.
Alaska candidate Mary Peltola pointed to one community paying $21 a gallon for gasoline, while Georgia's Jon Ossoff said gas is up 30%, diesel 47%, coffee 35% and ground beef 23% since inauguration.
Candidates are tying those costs to specific GOP-backed policies, including tariffs, higher health insurance premiums and support for the Iran war; Sherrod Brown said John Husted voted 13 times for the war and wasted $100 billion.
From Roy Cooper in North Carolina to James Talarico in Texas, Democrats are pairing attacks on Republican opponents with promises to lower prices, curb corporate abuses and work across party lines on 'kitchen table' issues.
The message shows a national Democratic effort to make cost of living the party's main Senate argument, using state-by-state examples to frame Republicans as responsible for a broader affordability crisis.