Democratic candidates competing in critical 2026 Senate and House races are openly criticizing former President Joe Biden’s handling of border security. In key battleground states, nominees are distancing themselves from the former president’s immigration record to neutralize what has become a significant political vulnerability for the party.
The shift reflects a strategic recognition among Democrats that border security remains a potent issue for Republican mobilization and independent voters. By acknowledging past failures while criticizing current enforcement tactics, candidates are attempting to carve out a middle path that addresses voter concerns about both border control and immigration processing.
What the Right Is Saying
Republican candidates and commentators continue to frame the border issue as a central failure of Democratic leadership. Republicans have consistently accused Democrats of promoting "open borders" policies that led to record migrant crossings during the Biden presidency. The Republican strategy relies on the sustained political impact of the migration surge, which was a primary driver of Joe Biden’s declining approval ratings and a key topic in the 2024 election.
Republican Senate nominee Roger Marshall in Kansas and House incumbent Rob Bresnahan in Pennsylvania are facing challengers who concede ground on Biden’s record but attack the current administration’s enforcement. The Republican argument maintains that the previous administration’s policies created a crisis that only conservative enforcement can resolve, a narrative that has historically energized the GOP base and appealed to swing voters concerned with national security and rule of law.
What the Left Is Saying
Democratic nominees in swing districts are emphasizing a dual critique: acknowledging that the Biden administration’s border management was insufficient while arguing that the current administration’s enforcement methods have gone too far. In Pennsylvania, Democratic House candidate Paige Cognetti stated during a debate that "the Biden administration failed at the border." She argued for securing the border while maintaining pathways to citizenship, noting, "We need to make sure that the border is secure. It’s a good thing that it is."
In Texas, Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico has directly criticized Biden in campaign advertisements, stating he "called out Joe Biden for failing us on the border." Talarico, who is running against Republican Ken Paxton, introduced his own border security plan in July, criticizing Biden for having "failed us on our southern border." Similarly, Texas House candidate Johnny Garcia admitted, "We’ve also gotten to see, unfortunately, how Biden got it wrong on the border," citing the 2022 migrant deaths in a trailer in south San Antonio as evidence of past failures, while also condemning current ICE raids as detrimental to the economy.
What the Numbers Show
According to NBC News reporting, polls indicate that while border security remains one of President Donald Trump’s highest-polling issues, his overall approval rating on the matter has fallen to 38%. This decline follows reports of immigration officers fatally shooting two Americans in Minnesota and one in Maine this year, incidents that have soured public opinion on enforcement tactics.
Democratic pollster Celinda Lake stated that it is "very smart" for candidates to distance themselves from Biden, noting that "there’s nobody contesting that interpretation" that the former president blundered on the border. Lake observed that in the 2024 election, "immigration was playing a major, major role, and it was energizing Republicans." She added that "ICE has gone too far, and that has backfired now," suggesting that the current enforcement approach is losing support among swing voters. The 2022 migrant deaths in Texas, involving 53 people locked in a trailer, are frequently cited by candidates on both sides as a benchmark for policy failure.
The Bottom Line
The willingness of Democratic candidates in red and purple states to criticize their own party’s recent past signals a significant recalibration of the party’s message on immigration. By separating themselves from Biden’s legacy while opposing aggressive enforcement, candidates like Adam Hamilton in Kansas and Josh Turek in Iowa are testing a new electoral strategy that prioritizes "some control for the border plus a humanitarian process," as described by pollster Celinda Lake.
The outcome of races in Texas, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina will serve as a referendum on whether this nuanced positioning can overcome the Republican advantage on border security. Voters in these districts will decide if acknowledging past Democratic errors while criticizing current Republican overreach is sufficient to win back swing voters who previously prioritized border control above other issues.