Exclusive: Schumer allies target 4 Republicans on ACA tax credits
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks at the Capitol on Nov. 5. Photo: Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A nonprofit linked to a Chuck Schumer-affiliated super PAC is spending $1 million on ads targeting 2026 Senate Republican candidates over looming health insurance premium increases.
Why it matters: Senate Democrats' government shutdown fight over health care costs is over. Now the party is trying to move that fight to the campaign trail.
- Majority Forward, a nonprofit aligned with the powerful Senate Majority PAC, is making the seven-figure ad buy in Maine, Ohio, Alaska and Iowa. Each are targets for Senate Democrats in next year's midterms.
- The 30-second spots criticize Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Jon Husted (R-Ohio), and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), along with Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) — who is running for Senate — for not preventing ACA tax credits from expiring at the end of the year.
- Premiums for millions of ACA enrollees are set to more than double next year if Congress does not extend enhanced marketplace subsidies.
The big picture: Democratic leaders argue they have made health care one of the top campaign issues of 2026 after their government shutdown fight with Republicans.
- The ads, which will begin airing Wednesday, target Collins, Husted and Sullivan for voting against a Democratic proposal this week to extend the ACA subsidies for a year.
- The ads targeting Hinson will air after the House votes this week on a government funding package that doesn't include an extension of the ACA tax credits.
Between the lines: A small group of Senate Democrats over the weekend cut a deal to end the government shutdown without a guarantee that the expiring ACA tax credits would be extended.
- Instead, GOP leaders in the Senate have promised a vote in December on extending the credits. Even Democratic leaders think it is unlikely that the measure passes the Senate.
Zoom out: Democrats are optimistic that President Trump's low polling numbers are helping expand the Senate map for the party next year.
- The ads are Majority Forward's first of the cycle in Ohio and its first ad targeting Hinson in Iowa.
- They will air on YouTube and digital streaming platforms.
The other side: "This ad is an outright lie that tries to blame Republicans for a healthcare bill passed by Democrats that lined the pockets of big insurance companies while they raised prices on patients," National Republican Senatorial Committee Communications Director Joanna Rodriguez told Axios.
- "President Trump has committed to putting patients first and that's what Republicans are going to do," Rodriguez added.
- Some Senate Republicans, including Collins, have indicated they are willing to try to negotiate a solution to premium increases before the end of the year.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.
