Art by Mariah Mapa
Transparency Item: The Perspectives section of the Graphic is comprised of articles based on opinion. This is the opinion and perspective of the writer.
Affordability has recently become the new watchword among prospective political officeholders, and the reasoning is plain to see.
Financial stability has become progressively challenging to maintain in recent years, with essentials such as grocery prices and rent surging as much as 30% since 2020, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). This increase in prices has gouged many Americans, given the rise in everyday costs has outpaced wage growth, according to Groundwork Collaborative.
Amid this collectively-experienced financial hardship, politicians aiming to fulfill voter interests and win office should center their campaigns around affordability.
The past few election cycles have noted the ascensions and massive victories of those championing affordability. Perhaps the most prominent of these is sitting New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Mamdani’s campaign, rooted in straightforward promises of rent freeze, fast and free buses and childcare for all, led him to triumph over establishment Democrat opponents like Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams. These transparent campaign promises, entrenched in quality-of-life improvement, were a stark contrast and reprieve from the culture war issues that have dominated the last decade of politics.
The NYC Mayor isn’t the only politician to recently prevail on affordability; newly- elected Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger’s Affordable Virginia Plan was central in her campaign. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill also outlined an affordability plan en route to her electoral win, highlighting energy, housing, healthcare, taxes, childcare and food prices as targets to ease the financial strain of her constituents, according to the New Jersey Globe.
California’s ongoing gubernatorial election reflects the shift in the electoral meta as well. Both Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra and Republican candidate Steve Hilton treat affordability issues as key parts of their platform.
Becerra promises to address housing and healthcare costs, and Hilton aims to bring affordability through deregulation and tax cuts, according to AOL. This is vastly different from Gavin Newsom’s office-winning 2022 campaign, which was hinged on a much more varied platform, balancing numerous issues such as reproductive rights, homelessness, energy and education, according to Gavin Newsom on the Issues.
President Donald Trump won his second presidency in part by promising relief from the steep prices due to inflation under Joe Biden. Trump wrongly pointed to undocumented immigrants as the ultimate financial strain instead of the new wave of social democrats that hold the corporations responsible, according to the New York Times; however, the assertion that affordability rhetoric belongs exclusively to the left of center remains untrue.
However, the affordability politics encouraged in this article are those that get at the heart of prescient pressing fiscal needs rather than the scapegoating tactics employed by President Trump.
Politicians should run on affordability simply because that is what Americans desire most. A reported 7 in 10 voters, including a majority of conservatives and independents, claim their necessities are getting more expensive, according to Groundwork Collaborative
Further proving affordability is a bipartisan issue among voters, 32% of surveyed Republican voters report inflation and prices as their primary concern as of Sept. 28, according to YouGov.
Politicians should note the wide dissatisfaction with the cost of living and see the rare opportunity to consolidate a voter base across party lines. The public mandate for lower prices demands politicians structure their campaign promises accordingly. A reported 81% of likely voters claim they would vote for a candidate that made life more affordable for working families, according to Data for Progress.
The recent popularity of the word “affordability” isn’t purely due to concision; it also exists as a term essential to current political vernacular. There is an argument to be made that utilization of the term has a strategic upside.
The popularity of the term has soared by over four times since January 2024, according to Google Trends. The boost in popularity is certainly noted at the top of the American government, with mentions of the word in emails from Congress spiking from 7 times in 2024 to 70 times in just November and December 2025, according to the Washington Post.
“Affordability is shorthand for an understanding that things are getting harder,” says Democrat strategist Tim Hogan in an April 2025 press release. “The very real concrete lived experience is people are going to the grocery store, trying to heat their homes, and seeing that their paychecks aren’t keeping up.”
For Democrats seeking to unseat incumbent Republicans, affordability rhetoric links cost of living with criticism of the costly ventures of the current administration, such as the Iran War and import tariffs. With midterm elections around the bend and politicians beginning to gear up for the 2028 presidential election, it would be foolish to ignore affordability politics.
Harkening back to Mamdani’s meteoric rise, politicians cannot undermine the extent to which an affordability platform will reward them. At the beginning of 2025, Mamdani was polling at 1%. By November of the same year, he was elected with over 50% of the vote, according to The Commons.
No matter the degree of influence or level of office, every politician should feel compelled to alleviate the financial strain felt by the American public. If America claims to be a representative democracy, the greatest want and need of the American people must be fulfilled.
This story was copy edited by Caitlin Murray.
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Contact Riley McGeehon via email: riley.mcgeehon@pepperdine.edu