Closing arguments in battle for Congress focus on abortion and immigration

Both parties are zeroing in on different issues as they make their closing arguments in the battles for the House and Senate, with Democrats leaning into abortion and Republicans focusing on immigration. 

Abortion is the most-mentioned topic in Democratic closing ads, followed by immigration, health care, bipartisanship and taxation, according to an analysis of more than 300 TV ads from candidates and joint ads they ran with party committees. The analysis looked at ads, tracked by AdImpact, that aired Wednesday in competitive House and Senate races.

Immigration is the top topic in Republican ads, followed by Vice President Kamala Harris, taxation, President Joe Biden and candidate character. 

Democrats have gone all in on abortion: Every Democratic campaign in a competitive Senate race mentioned the issue in an ad Wednesday, less than one week from Election Day. 

That includes Democrats in red-state races like Montana and Ohio, where Democratic Sens. Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown are looking to win over voters who will likely be supporting former President Donald Trump.

“If there is one thing that brings all Montanans together, it’s that we don’t want the federal government telling us to do anything,” Tester says directly into the camera in one ad.

“Tim Sheehy doesn’t get it. Sheehy wants to put politicians in Washington in charge of a woman’s health care decisions. It’s not who we are as Montanans.”

Just two Senate GOP candidates — former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Wisconsin businessman Eric Hovde — had TV ads mentioning the issue on Wednesday. Hogan is running in an open-seat race in the deep-blue state, while Hovde is challenging Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

“Here’s the truth. I oppose a national abortion ban,” Hovde says in one ad with the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “Early in a pregnancy, women should have the right to decide. We should allow for exceptions. And finally, the people of Wisconsin need to decide this issue, not politicians in Washington.”

Abortion is also the top issue in Democratic ads in key House races, per an analysis of ads in the 43 races the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter rates as most competitive. But just five Republicans in competitive House races — Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon, New York Reps. Brandon Williams and Marc Molinaro, California’s Matt Gunderson and Virginia’s Derrick Anderson — ran ads on that mention the issue on Wednesday. 

Instead, immigration topped the list of most-mentioned topics in Republican TV ads, often mentioned along other topics like transgender women playing women’s sports, part of an effort to paint Democratic opponents as too liberal.

In Montana, Sheehy decried Democratic attacks, saying into the camera in one ad, “Why is Jon Tester so desperate? Because on border security, inflation, the second amendment and keeping America strong, John Tester with Kamala Harris and I’m with you.”

Tester has tried to head off those attacks, launching one spot that features a narrator saying that the Democratic senator “worked with Republicans to shut down the border,” and Tester saying “no way” to “benefits for illegal immigrants.”

Immigration ranked second among the most-mentioned topics in Democratic TV ads, underscoring Democrats’ have massive fundraising advantages in down-ballot races, where they have the resources to defend against GOP attacks on the issue. 

Top of the ticket

Republicans’ closing arguments in House and Senate races are also much more likely to feature the candidates at the top of the ticket: Trump and Harris, as well as Biden. 

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSPhone a friend: Republicans lean on Cabinet members as they break with Trump

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCentrist think tank warns 2028 Democrats against swinging too far left on immigration

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussia’s secrecy after a mysterious plague lab death raises global alarm

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAfter surviving a botched lethal injection, Christa Pike faces unprecedented legal battle

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHunger in a land of plenty: Major food banks face ‘heartbreaking’ need, NBC News survey finds

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERSBrad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

Slide 1 of 1

That comes as Republicans have sought to nationalize their races, but also as the party has embraced a strategy to counter Democratic money that involves GOP candidates and party committees teaming up on so-called hybrid ads. The candidates and the party committees split the cost of such ads, but the ads’ content has to include some focus on national themes. 

Senate Republicans in particular are more likely to reference Trump, as they try to close the gap with the top of the ticket. Trump is the second most-mentioned topic in Senate GOP candidate TV ads, behind immigration. 

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSPhone a friend: Republicans lean on Cabinet members as they break with Trump

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCentrist think tank warns 2028 Democrats against swinging too far left on immigration

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussia’s secrecy after a mysterious plague lab death raises global alarm

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAfter surviving a botched lethal injection, Christa Pike faces unprecedented legal battle

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHunger in a land of plenty: Major food banks face ‘heartbreaking’ need, NBC News survey finds

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERSBrad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

Slide 1 of 1

In Ohio, one of businessman Bernie Moreno’s closing ads features Trump saying, “Sherrod Brown is a radical left politician. He’s for broken borders. Bernie Moreno will stop it. He’s going to secure our border. You got to go out and back, Bernie Moreno.”

Harris does appear in an ad for Maryland Democrat Angela Alsobrooks, as Democrats try to hold the Senate seat in a state the vice president is expected to win easily. 

But only one Senate Democrat mentioned Trump in a closing ad — and it wasn’t to attack the former president or a GOP candidate. 

Instead, one of Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey’s closing ads features a bipartisan couple who says Casey “sided with Trump to end NAFTA and put tariffs on China to stop them from cheating.”