From rising gas prices and Medicare to transgender rights, rural hospitals and data centers, Republicans and Democrats used selective facts and disputed claims to influence voters in the battle for control of Congress.
Before the Election Day polls open, here’s a look at the major midterm themes we’ve written about and how both parties have twisted the facts in trying to garner voters’ support.
Inflation and Gas Prices
When inflation and gasoline prices spiked in the summer of 2022, the midterm election airwaves were filled with Republican campaign ads attacking Democrats on those points, as we wrote for our “major themes” story then. With annualized inflation at 3.7% and gasoline prices at $4.27 per gallon the week of Oct. 26 — higher than the metrics when President Donald Trump’s second term began — inflation and gasoline prices are again a centerpiece of the midterm elections, with the party roles reversed.
Most of the Democratic ads blame the war in Iran and Republicans’ support for it, which is a matter for political debate, and not something for fact-checkers.
But the attacks haven’t always been on the mark, as was the case in a North Carolina ad in which Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper used an out-of-date quote from his Republican opponent, Michael Whatley, to portray him as out of touch on affordability issues. The economic picture was much different in July 2025 — when Whatley commented on grocery prices, gasoline prices and inflation — than they are today.
And while he isn’t on the ballot (technically), Trump has repeatedly twisted the facts on inflation and gasoline prices while stumping for Republican candidates in the run-up to the midterm elections.
