Congressional Votes on Iran War Become Targets of Campaign Attack Ads

WASHINGTON – In Wisconsin, a narrator says families are feeling the squeeze as “groceries, utilities, everything’s getting more expensive,” and accuses Congressman Derrick Van Orden of making matters worse. The ad claims he supported the costly war with Iran and the resulting rise in gas prices.

In Nebraska, Democratic candidate Chris Backemeyer says families are being overwhelmed financially. “And Mike Flood opened the gates. Flood voted six times for Trump’s tariffs and the Iran war, flooding us with higher prices on groceries, gas, cars and medicine, costing us a thousand dollars more a year.”

In Iowa, the group Vote Vets Action Fund is targeting Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson, saying she voted five times in support of the Iran war and helped drive “record prices for gas and fertilizer.”

These ads are just a sampling of how Democrats and allied advocacy organizations are using the unpopular war to challenge Republicans and try to regain control of the House and Senate. The effort follows a strategy Democrats began pursuing in the spring, repeatedly introducing war powers resolutions intended to end the conflict. Although the measures had little immediate effect, they required lawmakers to take a public position.

Those votes are now at the center of campaign advertising nationwide, according to an Associated Press review of AdImpact data, which tracks political media spending.

In some contests, the Republicans being attacked have never held congressional office and therefore could not have voted on the war powers resolutions. Democrats are nevertheless casting them as likely rubber stamps for President Donald Trump on the Iran conflict.

Linking the war to the cost of living

The Associated Press reviewed broadcast and cable advertising that aired from Sept. 1 through Oct. 14 in the most competitive midterm elections. The analysis covered House and Senate races rated as tossups or as leaning Democratic or Republican by the Cook Political Report. A smaller selection of streaming ads was also included.

Iran-related ads appeared in at least half of the 50 races examined, and most connected the war to household financial pressures. In total, the ads ran on television more than 43,000 times since Sept. 1, at an estimated cost of $42 million. To identify them, the AP combined AdImpact’s issue categories with its own review of the ads’ wording.

Of the 65 distinct Iran-focused ads identified by the AP, 61 highlighted cost-of-living concerns, including higher fuel prices and more expensive everyday goods.

The Republican strategy

Republicans have mostly avoided discussing the Iran war in their advertising. Their preferred approach is to emphasize Democratic vulnerabilities and persuade voters that the Democratic candidate would be worse, said Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist.

“In the end, you’re trying to get as many Republicans out to vote for you as possible and bring over some independents,” Bonjean said. “And talking about the Iran war is really not a winning message because you’re playing on the Democratic turf.”

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Since Sept. 1, Republican advertising has focused most heavily on taxes and crime, followed by character-related concerns, healthcare and immigration.

Some Republicans have attempted to separate themselves from the conflict in statements outside their campaign commercials. In Michigan, Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers said the “war with Iran needs to end — and end quickly.” His Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, has aired ads arguing that $1 billion a day is being spent on a war “we have no business fighting” and saying he would “invest our tax dollars here in Michigan.”

In Maine, Republican Sen. Susan Collins said during a recent debate that she had voted nine times to end the conflict. Democratic challenger Troy Jackson countered that she had voted five times to “make it happen.”

The Senate has taken 14 votes on resolutions seeking to stop or limit Trump’s military action against Iran. Since the conflict began in late February, the House has held six votes on similar measures.

In the most recent House vote, seven Republicans joined Democrats in supporting an end to the war. Four were Republicans running for reelection in highly competitive districts: Tom Barrett of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Iowa’s Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn. Barrett and Fitzpatrick had previously backed removing U.S. troops from hostilities, while the vote marked the first such support from Miller-Meeks and Nunn—an indication of mounting fatigue with the conflict.

Where Iran war ads are most common

Iran war ads accounted for about 5% of all television spots in the competitive races reviewed, but some campaigns have made the issue a central theme. The greatest concentration appeared in California’s 48th Congressional District in the San Diego area.

Roughly a third of the 12,000 aired ads touch on Iran. Democrats are seizing on a remark that Republican Jim Desmond made in the early days of the war, in which he said “no pain, no gain” as part of an interview on Real America’s Voice. He also said in that interview he believed the higher prices were just “a spike” and would come down once the U.S. eliminated Iran’s nuclear capability.

“No pain, no gain?” asks an ad from Democratic candidate Marni von Wilpert. “Tell that to a family filling up their gas tank.”

Desmond and the National Republican Congressional Committee responded with an ad that doesn’t mention Iran but criticizes von Wilpert for raising taxes and fees when she was on the San Diego City Council. In contrast, the ad says Desmond fought to lower costs and supports suspending the gas tax.

Not far behind in Iran-related ads are Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, now held by Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans, and Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, an open seat. Roughly a quarter of the ads in those districts touch on Iran. Both are highly competitive races.

Meanwhile, some 4,000 Iran-themed ads have aired in Ohio, or about 4% of the total in one of the nation’s most expensive contests. Nearly all were from Democrat Sherrod Brown’s campaign and leaned heavily on pocketbook themes.