The healthcare policies of the November, 2026 candidates
We read the campaign website of the two leading candidates in every 2026 U.S. House, Senate and Governor race and recorded which health care issues each one mentions, the position taken, and a verbatim quote with a link to the page.
Voters vs politicians
Voters consistently identify health care as their top affordability issue, but only half of all sites (51%; 73% of Democratic and 28% of Republican sites) mention any of the six issues that explicitly concern affordability: drug pricing, insurance premiums, hospital prices and price transparency, surprise billing, medical debt, and health care costs in general. Most of these sites mention only drug pricing. Only 33% of sites (43% of Democratic and 22% of Republican) mention one of the other five affordability issues, although the shares are higher in competitive races.
Figure 1. Share of candidates mentioning each affordability issue in competitive and safe races
Who raises what?
Overall, Democrats mention each of the ten main issues more often than Republicans do (Figure 2). The gaps are widest on Medicare (67% of Democrats, 20% of Republicans), drug pricing (63% and 17%) and Medicaid (55% and 9%), at 46 or 47 points each. Reproductive health is the issue both parties mention most: 68% of Democrats and 38% of Republicans. It is the only issue that more than a third of Republicans mention.
Figure 2. Share of each party's candidates mentioning each issue
A few topics outside the ten run the other way. Republicans mention free-market reforms such as health savings accounts and competition far more often than Democrats (20% against 1%). They also mention hospital price transparency (13% and 8%), vaccines and medical freedom (8% and 5%), and chronic disease under the Make America Healthy Again banner (7% and 3%) more often.
By office there is one reversal. Among candidates for governor, 35 Democrats and 35 Republicans, 10 Republicans mention veterans' health care and 7 Democrats do (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Number of candidate websites mentioning each issue, by office
Where do they split?
Abortion is the only issue on which many candidates from both parties take opposite sides: among candidates who mention it, 96% of Democrats would protect or expand access and 89% of Republicans would restrict it.
On most other issues, the Republicans who take a position take the same side as the Democrats, and there are far fewer of them. Medicare is typical: among candidates who mention it, 96% of Democrats would protect or expand it, against 74% of Republicans.
Few Republicans mention Medicaid or the ACA, and those who do mostly part ways with Democrats. Most of the 44 who mention Medicaid want work requirements or other reforms, and nearly half of the 57 who mention the ACA would repeal it. Most Democrats who mention either would protect it.
Figure 4. What candidates say about each issue, among those who mention it
What changes in competitive races?
We compared candidates in competitive races, those rated Toss Up or Lean by the Cook Political Report as of October 1–9, 2026 (62 Democrats and 62 Republicans with a readable site), with candidates in safe races rated Likely or Solid (430 Democrats and 411 Republicans).
Republicans in competitive races raise more of the ten main issues than Republicans in safe races: 2.4 on average, against 1.6. For Democrats the averages are 5.4 and 5.0.
In competitive races:
- Republican candidates mention mental health, drug pricing, Medicare, and food and nutrition more often and reproductive health less often.
- Democratic candidates mention cost and access issues more often and universal coverage less often.
Figure 5. Share of candidates mentioning each issue in competitive and safe races
Look up the details
The map below is for looking up a state. In 49 of the 50 states, the average Democratic candidate raises more of the ten main issues than the average Republican. The exception, North Dakota, has a single race, for its one House seat: the Democrat's site raises none of the ten issues and the Republican's raises one. Reproductive health is the most-mentioned issue in 33 states; in 9 of them it ties with another issue, and the map shows the one mentioned more nationally. In 39 states the top issue leads the next by two mentions or fewer.
Figure 6. The most-mentioned health issue in each state
Who is on your ballot?
Enter an address to see its 2026 candidates for the House, the Senate and governor, and how many of the ten main issues each one mentions. The address is sent only to the U.S. Census Bureau, to find the congressional district.