Democratic candidates across multiple competitive races are betting that voter anger over the Epstein files will help them in the midterms, weaving the scandal into campaign ads and stump speeches to paint Republicans as part of a corrupt elite class insulated from ordinary rules.
The strategy is particularly visible in three Senate races that Democrats view as pivotal. In Ohio, Sherrod Brown has spent nearly $1.5 million on television ads linking his opponent, freshman Sen. Jon Husted, to financier Leslie Wexner, an Epstein associate who donated to Husted's campaign. In Maine, presumptive Democratic nominee Graham Platner is running a six-figure spot accusing Sen. Susan Collins of selling out to "the president and to the Epstein class," with footage of Epstein and Donald Trump flashing onscreen. Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff has used the phrase "Epstein class" in speeches and interviews to describe what he says Trump's administration represents.
The ads reflect a calculation that the Trump administration's refusal to fully release the Epstein files still carries political weight with voters. For some Democrats, the message goes beyond individual scandal: it's meant to illustrate a broader argument that the wealthy and politically connected operate under different rules than everyone else.
"The establishment class thought I was crazy when I first pushed to release the Epstein files," Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who led the effort alongside Republican Thomas Massie, told Axios. "What they missed is that Epstein goes to the core of what people hate about Washington: a rigged system where the rich and powerful play by different rules."
Democrats and their allies have launched similar attacks in Wisconsin, Tennessee, and New Mexico. The extent to which such messaging will actually move voters remains unclear. Massie's push for file release gained little traction within the Republican Party, and he lost his primary race after facing opposition from Trump's political machine.
Republicans have fired back aggressively. The Republican National Committee accused Democrats of hypocrisy, noting that the party accepted donations from Epstein-linked sources over the years. "Their outrage is nothing more than cynical political theater from a party with no message and no credibility," RNC spokesperson Kiersten Pels said.
The Husted campaign has pushed back on the Brown ads as well, noting that Brown himself accepted donations from Leslie Wexner's wife. Husted's team says the senator has "donated all available funds" from Wexner to an anti-human trafficking charity. Wexner has maintained that Epstein deceived him.
Complications have emerged with the messaging. Some critics contend that the phrase "Epstein class" functions as an antisemitic dog whistle, though Jewish politicians including Ossoff have used the term, suggesting that interpretation is contested.
The strategy has even spilled into Democratic-on-Democratic battles. In New Mexico's gubernatorial race, an outside group ran ads linking ex-Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a Democrat, to Epstein. Her opponent, Democrat Sam Bregman, claimed in his own spot that unlike others, he's "not in the Epstein files." Haaland responded with a six-figure ad calling such claims "lies," and a local news outlet reported the charges against her were false and misleading.
Author James Rodriguez: "Using Epstein as a cudgel works only if voters actually care, and so far the evidence suggests the scandal's political shelf life may have an expiration date."
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