Dems weaponize Epstein in anti-GOP midterm ads

Several top Democratic candidates in the midterms are airing scathing ads linking their Republican foes to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal — betting that the Trump administration's reluctance to release the Epstein files still resonates with voters.

Why it matters: Democrats are mostly focusing on high prices, health care and Trump's war against Iran, but some also are trying to tie Republicans to the late sex offender as part of a broader message accusing the GOP of protecting the corrupt elite.

Zoom in: In the hotly contested Ohio Senate race, Democrat Sherrod Brown has spent nearly $1.5 million on TV ads slamming his GOP rival, freshman Sen. Jon Husted, for previously taking donations from Epstein financial client Leslie Wexner, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

• In fact, the only two ads Brown has aired this year have attacked Husted over Epstein, per AdImpact.

Husted spokesperson Amy Natoce told Axios the campaign has "donated all available funds" from Wexner "to an anti-human trafficking charity."

• Husted's campaign has also noted that Brown previously accepted donations from Wexner's wife. Wexner, for his part, has said that Epstein conned him.

Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee in the Maine Senate race — a must-win contest for the party's hopes of gaining a majority in the Senate — also is making anti-Epstein messaging part of his strategy to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

• In a six-figure TV ad, Platner accuses Collins of selling out voters to "the president and to the Epstein class," as an old video of Epstein and Donald Trump flashes across the screen.

In Georgia's Senate race — one of the GOP's best opportunities to flip a seat this year — Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) likewise has argued in speeches and media interviews that Trump's administration is made up of "the Epstein class."

What they're saying: Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who spearheaded the push to release the Epstein files alongside Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), feels vindicated by the anti-Epstein ads.

• "The establishment class thought I was crazy when I first pushed to release the Epstein files," he told Axios. "They said nobody would care. Nobody would vote based on it."
• "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."

Republican National Committee spokesperson Kiersten Pels responded to a request for comment by accusing Democrats of hypocrisy because of their own ties to Epstein: "The same party now trying to weaponize Epstein to distract from their own failed policies spent years cashing Epstein-linked checks."

• "Their outrage is nothing more than cynical political theater from a party with no message and no credibility," she added.

Zoom out: Democrats and their allies in state and federal races this cycle in Wisconsin, Tennessee and New Mexico also have aired ads tying their rivals to Epstein, or mentioning him while making a larger anti-Washington argument.

• It's unclear whether such spots will resonate with voters. Despite loud voices on the right bashing Trump over his handling of the Epstein files, Massie was unable to use the issue to rally many Republicans to his side.
• Massie was targeted by Trump's political machine and lost his bid for reelection in last week's GOP primary.
• Even so, many Dems believe an anti-Trump, anti-GOP Epstein argument will register with the overall electorate.

The other side: Some critics have argued that the phrase "Epstein class" is an antisemitic dog whistle. Others have pushed back on that notion and pointed out that Jewish politicians, such as Ossoff, are among those saying it.

The intrigue: Democrats aren't just slamming Republicans over their supposed ties to Epstein — they're bashing fellow Democrats, too.

• In New Mexico's gubernatorial election, an outside group ran negative advertising linking ex-Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (D) to Epstein. Her Democratic opponent, former Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman, also said in a spot, "Unlike others, I'm not in the Epstein files."
• Haaland aired a six-figure ad that pushed back, calling her opponents' claims "lies."
• A local news station reported that the outside group's ad was "false" and "misleading."