Epstein class – From Maine to Texas and beyond, candidates heading into the 2026 midterm fight have turned Jeffrey Epstein into a political litmus test—sparking unusually broad bipartisan agreement among voters that elites face different rules and that more arrests should fol
For Graham Platner, the general election pitch didn’t start with Sen. Susan Collins or even the Republican Party. It started with Jeffrey Epstein.
Platner’s first ad after winning the Democratic nomination for Senate in Maine pointed to Epstein’s former residence in the U.S. Virgin Islands and called him the symbol of an “Epstein class” of elites in both parties. “Some of the most powerful Democrats and Republicans in the country were on Epstein island. ” Platner said in the ad. arguing that the political establishments shared at least one thing: an alleged bond around Epstein’s circle.
Platner. an economic-populist candidate who has drawn national attention for controversial online statements and a since-removed tattoo of a Nazi symbol. framed his campaign as a rejection of that world. “It seems the only thing the party establishments can agree on is a love of Jeffrey Epstein. and a hatred of me. ” he said. “I’m Graham Platner. and I approve this message because together. we will take back our government from the Epstein class.”.
The phrase is spreading well beyond Maine. In midterm races from Texas to Maine, Democrats—and at least one Republican—are running against “Epstein” and what Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California first labeled the “Epstein class” last year.
Khanna described the men in economic and cultural elite circles who. in his telling. traveled through Epstein’s social orbit and helped rehabilitate his reputation after the multimillionaire ex-financier became a convicted sex offender in 2008 for soliciting prostitution of a minor. “I’ll give the survivors credit. but I did coin the phrase ‘Epstein class’ because they’re a group of rich and powerful people who are not playing by the rules. and it offends the sense that we have one tier of justice. ” Khanna told The 19th.
He also said the politics of the issue are unusually powerful. “The number of candidates highlighting Epstein in their campaign messaging shows what a powerful issue this is to win the midterms and win back the trust of the American public.”
In two high-stakes fights for U.S. Senate control, the theme has become a direct campaign weapon. Platner in Maine and Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia—running for reelection—have both castigated the “Epstein class” and what they portray as elite corruption in their ads and messaging.
Across the country, Democrats have tied the Epstein label to a specific fight over criminal justice accountability. In Texas. Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico criticized his opponent. Trump-endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. for approving what critics have called an overly lenient. “Epstein-style” plea deal for a defendant charged with sexually abusing a child.
In Ohio’s Senate race, the attacks also go both ways—this time aimed at campaign money. In competing television ads, Republican Sen. Jon Husted and his Democratic opponent, former Sen. Sherrod Brown, have singled out campaign donations from those in Epstein’s orbit.
The legal and political roots of the strategy stretch back to a fight inside Congress. Last year, Epstein’s survivors fueled a bipartisan push in Congress led by Khanna and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie to compel the Justice Department to release over 3.5 million files from its investigation into Epstein. Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. The file release came after months of resistance from President Donald Trump and the White House and provided “a rare look into how the wealthy and powerful operate behind closed doors. ” as the issue’s supporters put it.
Epstein’s death was ruled a suicide. but it has continued to drive scrutiny. skepticism. and conspiracy theories in the years since. During the 2024 election. top Trump allies—including some who later ended up in his administration—pledged to release the Epstein files. The White House’s reluctance to do so frustrated and split the MAGA base. leading to what the article describes as a rare rebuke of the administration by Congress.
That pressure is being translated into campaign messaging now, and some politicians who resisted the file push have paid a political price. In May, a Trump-backed primary challenger ousted Massie from his seat in Congress.
The Epstein files have also become one of the rare congressional investigations that lawmakers say they can rally around across party lines. Rep. Robert Garcia of California. the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee and one of the spearheads of the investigation. told reporters this month: “I think the single most bipartisan issue in the country is the Epstein files investigation. And so I think we’re going to talk about it a lot.”.
No one other than co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell—currently serving out a prison sentence for sex trafficking—has been prosecuted in connection to Epstein’s crimes in the United States. Even so. Epstein’s circle is filled with powerful names. and the files added fuel to the argument that prosecution and accountability have not landed evenly.
Republicans have pointed to Epstein’s ties to figures including former President Bill Clinton. who sat for a congressional deposition along with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. and Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman. who has expressed regret for associating with Epstein. to accuse Democrats of hypocrisy. Democrats and some other candidates. in turn. have treated those ties as evidence of corruption reaching across party lines—creating a line of attack that lets candidates hit what they cast as elite rot without needing to win every voter’s partisan trust from scratch.
Two Democratic pollsters told The 19th the Epstein issue is rare in how broad it is: high salience and far reach even among less politically engaged voters, plus high bipartisan agreement on the need for action.
Surveys released this year from Democratic-aligned firm Navigator Research and progressive pollster Data for Progress backed that claim. In both polls. majorities of voters—including a majority of Republicans—believe there hasn’t been enough accountability connected to Epstein’s crimes and want to see more arrests and prosecutions.
A Navigator poll released in March tracked what happened when respondents were told about officials in other countries being arrested. fired. or forced to resign over Epstein ties. In that version of the question. the share of Americans who said they believed Trump administration officials should resign over the Epstein matter increased.
Melissa Toufanian. managing director at Navigator. put it plainly: “What has happened with the Epstein files is such a clear distillation of the frustration that Americans across different partisan ideologies. even Republicans. even MAGA Republicans. and certainly independents. feel that there’s a different set of rules — or that really no rules at all — for the elite who just seem to get ahead.”.
In the Navigator survey. half of Americans—including two-thirds of Democrats and 58 percent of independents—said they believed the government was “definitely” covering up additional wrongdoing by Epstein. Seventy-two percent of Americans—including 70 percent of independents. 67 percent of non-MAGA Republicans. and 57 percent of respondents identified as MAGA Republicans—said there should be more arrests and prosecutions related to Epstein. Sixty-four percent of respondents. including two-thirds of independents and half of Republicans. said they believed Epstein’s crimes were “unsurprising and the result of a broader problem.”.
“It really cuts across every political divide in a way that we almost never see on other issues,” Toufanian said.
That cross-cutting appeal is showing up in red-state candidacies too. Beyond Talarico and Brown, the term “Epstein class” has been used by other candidates in Senate races. Noah Taylor. an Army veteran running as a Democrat for the Senate in Kansas. and Dan Osborn. an independent Senate candidate in Nebraska. have also framed their campaigns as opposing the “Epstein class.”.
Osborn is challenging Sen. Pete Ricketts. In a news release, Osborn pointed to a campaign rally in which Ricketts and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas appeared together, calling them “birds of a feather who are content to carry out the agenda of the billionaire Epstein class.”
The Data for Progress polling adds a different kind of punch: voters didn’t just respond to the concept. They could name names. The research found voters were highly aware of the Epstein files issue and could identify specific figures they believed were part of the Epstein class, including Trump.
In a Data for Progress poll released in March, a plurality of likely voters said they didn’t expect to see additional arrests connected to Epstein, and majorities of voters said they held both the Trump and Biden administrations accountable for a lack of action.
Ryan O’Donnell. Data for Progress’ executive director. described why candidates think the “Epstein class” framing resonates: “What we found there is that people are immediately able to attach this to wealthy elites and corruption and people that are rigging the system in their own interests. and then finally. that voters find those messages to be pretty convincing.”.
The political logic comes into focus against the backdrop of the economy. Inflation and the high cost of living consistently rank among voters’ top concerns ahead of the midterms—an opening Democrats are trying to exploit. O’Donnell said trust doesn’t shift cleanly by party on corruption, though.
“Still, O’Donnell said, surveys show that Democrats have little trust advantage on which party voters trust more to tackle corruption,” the article notes.
That’s why candidates leaning into the “Epstein class” label are trying to meet voters where they are: disgust at elite power and a belief that accountability isn’t arriving. “I think it directly fits in with voters’ top concern of cost of living right now,” O’Donnell said. “Broadly. Democrats. if they want to fight their way out of this. have to show that they’re actually willing to take on corruption in that way. and I do think that the Epstein class language is one way to do that.”.
Epstein class Jeffrey Epstein Ro Khanna Susan Collins Graham Platner Jon Ossoff James Talarico Ken Paxton Jon Husted Sherrod Brown Ghislaine Maxwell Epstein files Navigator Research Data for Progress U.S. Senate midterm elections Justice Department Bill Clinton Hillary Clinton Reid Hoffman Thomas Massie