Research reveals how Democrats can pull ahead of Republicans on affordability in midterm elections

WASHINGTON – Today, the Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy PAC (CFFE PAC) released new research showing that Democrats gain a significant electoral advantage when they incorporate their personal caregiving experiences into their broader economic message.

As first reported in Semafor by Eleanor Mueller, the study finds that nearly half of voters place more trust in Democrats to lower the high cost of caring for a loved one, compared to a third who trust Republicans. When Democrats incorporate their own personal caregiving story into a larger affordability framework, they gain an 11-point advantage.

“Voters already know costs are too high—the question is who understands what they’re dealing with and will do something about it,” said Sondra Goldschein, Executive Director of the Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy PAC. “When Democrats lead with the cost of care and connect it to people’s real lives, it’s a stronger argument, and it’s how they win in 2026 and beyond.”

CFFE PAC will use these findings to guide its $50 million midterm electoral program, making the cost of care a central part of the affordability debate in key races. The program will support Democratic candidates focused on lowering costs for working families by elevating child care, elder care, and paid leave within the broader affordability conversation. The effort will engage voters across battleground states through field organizing and paid communications, grounded in the real economic pressures that families face and making clear who is working to bring costs down.

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The Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy PAC works to elect candidates who believe all people should be able to afford to care for themselves and their loved ones. Since 2015, we have run some of the largest electoral programs in battleground states to support candidates that are fighting for policies like paid family and medical leave and quality, affordable child care, elder care and health care. We know how to effectively communicate about high costs and the economy in the way people actually think about it – emphasizing who is committed to lowering costs, and who isn’t. We use this insight to reach voters at the scale needed to have an impact, building support for candidates up and down the ballot who are committed to lowering the cost of caregiving.