Midterm Ad Blitz Over Child Abuse Claims Tops $70 Million Since Sept. 1

Republicans and Democrats are filling the midterm airwaves with ads that accuse opponents of protecting pedophiles and child sexual abusers, according to Axios. Since Sept. 1, candidates and outside groups have aired at least $70 million in TV spots on the subject, AdImpact data shows.

Axios reported that the surge reflects the lasting effect of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, which has deepened distrust of powerful figures and moved child sexual abuse allegations to the center of national politics. Critics have accused the Trump administration of trying to shield powerful people by not releasing all of the Epstein files, which has kept the issue in the news.

The numbers behind the ad blitz

• $70 million: the minimum spent on TV ads since Sept. 1 that mention pedophilia, Epstein or child sexual abuse allegations, per AdImpact.
• 118 ads: the total AdImpact identified in that period.
• 63, 52 and three: how those ads break down by sponsor. Democrats paid for 63, Republicans for 52 and independents for three.
• More than $8 million: what Democrats backing Texas Senate candidate James Talarico have spent attacking Republican Ken Paxton.
• Four ads: the number Democrats have aired in North Carolina against Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley.
• 69%: the share of surveyed Kansas voters who said they were less likely to back Democrat Adam Hamilton after hearing allegations about his handling of a church camp incident. The figure comes from private GOP polling provided to Axios.

Where the attacks are playing out

In Kansas, Democrats unveiled three ads Tuesday against Republican Sen. Roger Marshall. The ads focus on his initial vote against a measure that would have forced the Justice Department to release additional Epstein files.

The conservative Club for Growth, meanwhile, is airing an ad accusing Hamilton, a pastor and Marshall's Democratic opponent, of mishandling sexual abuse allegations involving a church camp volunteer. According to Axios, the allegations date to 2005, when church leaders first investigated accusations involving boys at the camp instead of immediately contacting police. Hamilton has released a commercial denying a cover-up. Axios noted that the Club for Growth ad closely resembles promotional material for the new movie "Primetime," which is inspired by the NBC series "To Catch a Predator."

In Texas, Talarico's Democratic supporters are targeting Paxton, the state attorney general, over his office's initial plea offer of one day in jail for a man accused of sexually abusing a child. Paxton says he agreed to the deal to spare the child victim from testifying in court a second time.

In North Carolina, Democrats accuse Whatley of appointing a convicted sex offender to a state GOP committee. Whatley has denied hiring the man.

Why it matters for voters

Viewers in competitive states are likely to see these spots repeatedly through the end of the campaign, and several of the claims are disputed by the candidates they target. Paxton, Hamilton and Whatley have each offered a response to the allegations, which voters will hear alongside the attacks.

Axios described the trend as a shift in the campaign's tone. Democrats have spent much of the race criticizing Republicans over high prices, but with voters' views on the economy largely settled, attack ads are increasingly about character and judgment. Some GOP strategists see the child abuse attacks as a way to put Democrats on defense while Republicans struggle to sell voters on President Donald Trump's agenda. Republicans spent months on the defensive over the administration's resistance to releasing more Epstein files, so their embrace of the theme marks a change.

Strategists in both parties say the approach is designed to land. Democratic pollster John Anzalone, who advises Roy Cooper, Whatley's Democratic opponent, said the issue "goes to character and judgment." Republican pollster Chris Wilson told Axios that Epstein reinforced a suspicion that powerful people protect one another and play by different rules. He said allegations involving children are especially visceral, and that falling trust in institutions gives them added force.

Around Prague, based on reporting by Axios