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Why the Midterms Matter to Older Americans
Your vote for members of Congress is critical in these low-turnout years
7-minute read
AARP (Getty Images,6; Courtesy Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
Key takeaways
- All 435 House seats and about one-third of Senate seats are up for grabs in the midterms, giving voters a direct say on issues such as Social Security, Medicare and the economy.
- Older adults vote at much higher rates than younger Americans, giving them significant influence in lower-turnout midterm elections.
- The next Congress could shape the future of Social Security, health care costs, prescription drug affordability and state policies affecting caregivers and retirement security.
Midterm elections, which take place halfway through a four-year presidential term, have a lower profile than presidential election year contests. But showing up at the polls is just as important.
In every midterm election, all 435 U.S. House seats and roughly a third of the 100 Senate seats are up for grabs. “We’re electing people for the next two to six years who have an enormous influence on the outcomes of some of the major debates occurring around things like Social Security, Medicare, health care costs and the direction of the economy,” says John Hishta, senior vice president of campaigns at AARP.
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These federal politicians will make decisions on whether Social Security remains solvent and strong, whether family caregivers get more help and other issues that affect the pocketbooks of older Americans.
It’s a prime opportunity for older voters, the most powerful voting bloc in America, to flex their muscles. These elections tend to draw low turnout, often about half or less of what is seen in presidential election years, says Jeffrey Jenkins, a professor of public policy, political science and law at the University of Southern California. But older voters consistently show up. In 2022, roughly 63 percent of Americans 45 and older cast ballots, compared with just 28 percent of those ages 18 to 24, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
“An individual citizen’s vote is worth more in midterms years,” Jenkins says. If high-turnout groups such as older adults vote in midterms, “politicians will absolutely be interested in what issues are important to them.”
Social Security is effectively on the ballot
A worrisome deadline is fast approaching for present and future beneficiaries of Social Security. The surplus in the program’s combined trust funds that pay out Social Security retirement, survivor and disability benefits will be depleted in 2034. If the retiree and survivor trust fund benefits are considered alone, the reserves will run out in the fourth quarter of 2032.
Without congressional action, Social Security payments could be cut by 17 percent, according to the latest projections from the Board of Trustees that oversees the funds, released in June.
“People getting elected to the Senate this year will be deciding on Social Security’s future directly,” Hishta says.
AARP opposes any cuts to Americans’ Social Security payments.
"When Congress dealt with Social Security in the 1980s, it shielded people already retired while cutting benefits by nearly 20 percent for the workers paying in,” said Bill Sweeney, senior vice president of government affairs at AARP. “That means today’s new retirees are getting smaller checks than they would have before. AARP’s position is simple: no cuts to the benefits people have earned.”
Health care, affordability are also concerns
There are 218 Republicans and 214 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as one independent and two vacancies. There are 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents in the Senate. A shift in this balance of power could dictate how issues dividing the two parties unfold.
“The midterms are often just as important to an administration’s agenda as the presidential cycle,” says Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters.
Many decisions made by Congress could change the lives of older adults.
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“Last year there was a big health care fight,” points out Stewart. “That affects older Americans who are retired or approaching retirement.” In early 2026, the House passed a bipartisan three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits. But the measure withered in the Senate, and premiums for many adults 50 to 64 who rely on marketplace insurance spiked.
Several contentious issues cascaded out of the signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025, which the House passed by a 218-214 vote and the Senate passed by a single vote. The legislation set work requirements for Medicaid enrollees, including for people 50-64; cut federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and added new rules for adults 55 to 64; and delayed federal standards designed to improve staffing at nursing homes by nearly a decade. It also gave taxpayers 65 and older an extra standard deduction and a bonus deduction of $6,000 through the 2028 tax year.
The next Congress will have other weighty issues on its agenda, including those involving health care and affordability.
The Medicare trustees’ annual report, also released in June, projects that the trust fund that pays for Part A, the hospitalization component of Medicare, will be unable to fully meet its costs after the second quarter of 2033, three months earlier than last year’s forecast.
Inflation also affects older adults differently than younger generations.
“Higher prices erode the buying power of fixed retirement checks and increase the cost of living,” Jenkins says. While more older adults are responding by working later in life, “this is increasingly less a choice than a requirement.”
In AARP polls of battleground states in 2026, older voters have consistently voiced concern about Social Security, rising prices for everyday essentials and the cost of health care.
Beyond the federal races
You may also be choosing your governor, state attorney general, state representatives or leaders for local offices such as city council or the school board. In all, there are thousands of races happening at the state and local level across the country.
Republicans have the advantage among state legislators, holding 55 percent of seats nationwide. As of 2025, 27 states and the District of Columbia had “supermajorities” — enough members of one party to override a governor’s veto, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. So even if chambers don’t flip, the political dynamic could change if those supermajorities turn into simple ones, says J. Miles Coleman of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Control of the legislature and the governor’s veto pen touches on issues important to older Americans and to AARP. Those issues include implementing tax credits to help cover caregiving costs; beefing up home care services so people can more easily age in place; protecting consumers from utility rate increases caused by data centers; expanding affordable housing options; and establishing state-facilitated work-and-save programs that help Americans prepare for retirement even if their workplace doesn’t offer a 401(k) or similar option. AARP has gotten traction on those issues in some states but will continue advocating.
Such issues are vital to older voters — the very people likely to vote in midterm elections. Signs are that 2026 won’t be different: Recent AARP polls in key battleground states show older voters are more intent on voting than younger ones.
“We represent that constituency, and we are delighted they’re going to show up at the polls,” says Nancy LeaMond, AARP executive vice president and chief advocacy and engagement officer.
You may also get the chance to weigh in on state-specific ballot measures such as limiting the sales tax on groceries or issuing bonds to develop affordable housing.
“It’s a lot of opportunity for people to make choices,” Stewart says.
Chris Adams, director of state news for the AARP Bulletin, contributed to this story.
The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.
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