Thursday, April 9, 2026 | 2 a.m.
For the political class, the arrival of the primary season is like opening day for baseball junkies. Up until this point, everything regarding the 2026 midterms has been predictive and speculative. However, the game truly began in the 2025 off-year Virginia elections, providing a preview of effective messages and policies.
In January, I attended the inauguration of Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat. Her address stayed true to the issues she focused on in her election: promising to be a governor for all; focusing on kitchen-table issues such as affordability; lowering housing costs and grocery prices; and addressing rising health care costs.
It was similar to a previous Republican governor who won in 2009, the year I was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. “Bobs for Jobs” was Bob McDonnell’s refrain when he won in a similar landslide and swept in a large House of Delegates majority.
There will always be policy differences between Republicans and Democrats, but one thing voters and constituents appreciate is a candidate who focuses on the state and local issues. These are the items voters tell you are important.
That is why the Virginia-focused affordability agenda put forward by Spanberger, with a tone of civility and focus on practical solutions, was so well received in last year’s election.
With the midterm season upon us, affordability and kitchen-table issues remain the top concern of most Americans. Will Republicans return to running on those issues, or will they try to change the subject and talk about fiery social issues like transgender bathrooms?
In Virginia in 2025, polls made clear that voters wanted their government to prioritize fixing the rising cost of living. Instead, Republicans spent millions of dollars fixating on anti-LGBTQ messaging and, as a consequence, suffered devastating defeats across the board, with Democrats winning their biggest majority in the House of Delegates in 40 years.
A better model for Republicans is Gov. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, who won in a blue state in 2024 by nearly 10 points and is already leading in the polls in 2026 in a state represented entirely by Democrats in Congress.
Ayotte, who focuses on keeping her business-friendly, low-tax state among the top in which to do business, has focused on school safety and reading scores; bringing down electricity bills while promoting next-gen nuclear clean power. She also vetoed a book ban and two overly broad anti-LBGT bills.
Unlike other Republicans in swing states who are underwater, Ayotte is already leading outside the margin of error as she focuses on these mainstream issues.
Last October, a Wall Street Journal story reported that “Republican strategists say they intend to make transgender issues prominent in contests that will decide control of Congress.”
Given how that ended for the GOP in Virginia in 2025, it’s the wrong approach. Emphasizing culture wars might generate campaign fundraising and social media outrage, but these are messages that appeal to a shrinking base. Those who want to respond to the real economic needs of a broader coalition still feeling the effects of inflation must approach the issues with serious, cost-of-living solutions that bring people together.
Republicans who want to win in 2026, especially the majority-making moderates, will need party leaders to spend less time worsening our divisions and more time explaining how they will help families afford their homes and health care, their children’s education, and their retirement.
A recent Centerline Liberties poll found that nearly three-fourths of Americans are exhausted with politics. Republican, Democratic and independent voters share that discouragement. They’re tuning out politicians. Almost half of the respondents in the Centerline poll said they were taking a break from political news and social media, and who could blame them?
Successful candidates this year will be those who convince voters they’ve listened to them, and want to solve their problems by addressing the issues that are affecting their lives on a daily basis.
Barbara Comstock is a senior adviser to Centerline Action, which advances centrist policy solutions. A Virginia Republican, she served in Congress from 2015 to 2019. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.
