Midterms Shaping Up to Be a War Over Delivering Affordability for Gen Z

While President Donald Trump launches an initiative to make America affordable again, Democrats are crafting their own messaging on cost of living, an issue that will likely define the midterms.

Affordability Already Playing Central Role in Elections

One of the most recent Democrat politicians to seize on topics of affordability is Amy Acton, a medical doctor who is running to be the Democrat nominee for the 2026 Ohio gubernatorial election.

In a recent post on social media, the Ohio doctor attacked her potential Republican opponent in the general election, former biotechnology executive Vivek Ramaswamy, over comments he had made in 2024 about American culture.

“Vivek Ramaswamy told us how he really feels when he said that Ohioans aren’t succeeding because they’re lazy and mediocre and watching too much TV,” Acton wrote.

“That couldn’t be further from what I’m seeing on the ground every day. Ohioans are working harder than ever, they’re doing everything right, and they just can’t get enough breathing room. Ohio needs a governor who listens, understands, and who is ready to bring down costs on day one,” Acton went on.

Acton’s social media post attempts to hit Ramaswamy on the issue of affordability, which voters have repeatedly expressed concern about, especially an increasing number of young Republicans who face rising living costs.

Successful messaging on affordability likely helped Democrats secure victories in statewide and local elections in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia last week—especially Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City mayoral race.

Gen Z Sounds the Alarm on Affordability

It’s easy to complain about rising costs, but what does the data actually say? Well, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics assembled by the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank located in Washington, key building blocks of a middle-class life in America have doubled in cost since January 2000.

That includes hospital services, which were 200% higher in cost in June 2022 than in January 2000; college tuition and fees, which had an excess of 160% increase over the same time period, and medical care services, which sky rocked more than 120% compared to January 2000. For context, overall inflation was 74.4% from January 2000 to June 2022. By comparison, average hourly wages increased by wages by 99.6% over the same time period.

In the New York City mayoral election on Nov. 4, young voters turned out in large numbers and broke for Mamdani by a large margin because of the Mamdani campaign’s emphasis on affordability issues.

But an increasing number of young Republicans are ringing the alarm bell over these concerns as well.

Nalin Haley, the Gen Z son of former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, has amassed a large media profile by talking about affordability issues facing his generation.

In a recent interview with Sohrab Ahmari for UnHerd, the Gen Z rising star decried the scarcity of jobs available to his generation.

“My friend group from high school, all graduated, great degrees from great schools. It’s been a year and a half, and not one of them has a job—not one,” Haley explained. “I’m angry at that, because I’m having to try and help my friends get jobs when their parents got jobs immediately—not just after graduating college, but out of high school.”

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