16 hours ago - Politics & Policy
Scoop: How Epstein ads pushed Dems' closing argument
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The four most persuasive ads from Democrats' top Senate super PAC accused Republicans of protecting sexual abusers, according to internal data obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: Democrats turned Republicans' 2024 demands to release the Jeffrey Epstein files against them, using accusations of protecting sexual predators to erode trust in the GOP even in deep-red states.
- "Anger over the Iran War, corruption, and costs drove the election, and the vast majority of our communications focused on showing voters how the Republican candidate abandoned their state's interest," Senate Majority PAC spokesperson Lauren French told us.
- "Communications on Epstein or actions to protect child predators were especially effective as a tandem message to further erode trust in Republicans," French said.
Zoom in: Republican efforts to cover for sexual predators featured in the most persuasive ads by the Chuck Schumer-linked group in Kansas and North Carolina — states that helped hand Democrats the majority.
- One ad hit Texas GOP Senate nominee Ken Paxton over a plea deal offer he worked on for a sexual abuser. It persuaded voters toward Democratic nominee James Talarico by an estimated 10.6 percentage points, according to internal SMP analysis by Blue Rose research provided to Axios.
- Another featured a Republican, church-going voter, saying Paxton "even let a child sex abuser with ties to his rich friends off the hook. That's not a man of God."
- In Kansas, two ads hit Sen. Roger Marshall (R) over the Epstein scandal, accusing him of accepting money from Epstein associates and voting against releasing the Epstein Files.
Go deeper: The brutal 2026 attack ads even rivals had to respect
