Democrats Pour $36 Million Into Epstein Ads in Bid to Flip the Senate

Democrats have spent some $36 million on ads about Jeffrey Epstein in House and Senate races this cycle, according to an AdImpact analysis, making the late sex offender a central midterm theme.

The Senate Majority PAC, aligned with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, has spent more than $20 million of that on Senate races in Alaska, Maine, Iowa, Ohio, Kansas and Georgia, a spokesperson for the group said.

Democrats are using Epstein as shorthand for corruption, which 88% of voters called extremely or very concerning in a recent Fox News poll. That edged out inflation and high prices, which drew 85%.

“I think that Epstein has become emblematic of this larger system that Americans feel is rigged against them,” said Jesse Stinebring, CEO of Democratic firm Blue Rose Research, which does polling used to shape the PAC’s ads.

Republicans see a turnout threat. “It’s designed at making frustrated Republican voters who are a little soft right now more frustrated and more soft,” one senior Republican official working on the midterms told Playbook.

The ads are not necessarily meant to win over Republicans so much as to keep them home. One GOP pollster called the strategy “Republican base suppression” and said the issue has broken through in the homestretch.

In Mississippi, Democratic Senate nominee Scott Colom is running an ad featuring a lifelong Republican named Mark who broke with GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith over her vote to block the files’ release.

Georgia Leads the Spending

In Georgia, more than $10 million has gone to Epstein-related ads, over three-quarters of it from Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff’s campaign, CNN found earlier this month using AdImpact data.

Ossoff has attacked Republican Rep. Mike Collins for opposing the files’ release. Collins voted against a July 2025 procedural vote but backed release that November after President Donald Trump encouraged Republicans to support it.

Collins has accused Ossoff of hypocrisy for accepting donations from LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, a former Epstein associate. Hoffman has not been accused of wrongdoing and has expressed regret for the association.

In Ohio, more than $6 million has been spent. Former Sen. Sherrod Brown has tied GOP Sen. Jon Husted to billionaire Les Wexner, who once employed Epstein, donated to Husted and denies any wrongdoing.

Some Republicans are hitting back with ads of their own, the Washington Examiner reported, including one styled after “To Catch a Predator” that targets Kansas Democratic Senate candidate Adam Hamilton.

That ad accuses Hamilton of mishandling sexual abuse allegations against a church camp volunteer. The Examiner also noted that CBS News has counted more than 500 ads this cycle featuring Epstein or pedophiles.

Meanwhile, House Judiciary Committee Democrats released a minority staff report Monday calling for a special counsel to investigate Trump’s ties to Epstein. Trump has denied wrongdoing, and Democrats would need the majority to press the probe.

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