2025 was a busy year on the political airwaves, with both Democrats and Republicans scrambling to shape voters’ early impression of the GOP reconciliation law.
We asked our friends at AdImpact to analyze every ad run in House and Senate races last year —from both candidates and outside groups. The disparity between the GOP and Democratic messaging was dramatic. Here are the top takeaways:
Democrats want to make 2026 about health care. Republicans don’t.
The AdImpact analysis found that 56% of Democratic ads run in House races in 2025 mentioned health care, outpacing the 17% figure for GOP-backed House ads.
We’ve reported on the trend of left-leaning outside groups spending heavily to slam hundreds of billions of dollars in looming Medicaid cuts mandated by the One Big Beautiful Bill. GOP pushback has centered on defending the policy changes as countering waste, fraud and abuse. But altogether, Republican groups are choosing to message less on the issue of health care.
In Senate ads, the disparity was smaller. Thirty-one percent of Democratic ads featured health care messaging, while 23% of GOP ads mentioned the topic.
Trump will dominate the midterms.
President Donald Trump continues to be the dominant figure in the Republican Party, and that’s reflected in how GOP groups are framing their ads. In GOP-backed House and Senate ads, Trump was the most featured topic — 63% for House ads and 83% for Senate ads.
Almost every Republican candidate running in 2026 wants voters to know they will stand with Trump. Interestingly, 58% of Democratic ads in Senate races featured Trump in 2025. This suggests Democrats will keep using Trump as a foil throughout the midterms.
Both parties want to talk taxes.
Sixty-two percent of House GOP ads mentioned tax policy, in addition to 29% of Senate GOP ads. No tax on tips and no tax on overtime pay are critical pillars of Republican messaging on the OBBB.
Democrats are also messaging on this: 49% of Senate ads and 41% of House ads mention tax policy. But the Democratic stance focuses on accusing Republicans of cutting taxes for wealthy Americans while ignoring the working class.
