Democrats Had A Secret Weapon In The Midterms — And It Had Nothing To Do With Politics

Democrats won back the House and the Senate by rebuking President Donald Trump — and they looked damn good doing so.

The 2026 midterms were hornier than ever as many Democrats and their online campaigns leaned into the fact that the candidates were easy on the eyes.

Michigan Democratic Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed wore tight-fitting black shirts and showed off his biceps while bench-pressing and challenging Vice President JD Vance to the weight room.

The official TikTok for the Democratic Party released a video captioned “Phone on DND [do not disturb] I told my boyfriend that I’m busy” for Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff that involved multiple close-ups of the incumbent and his visible forearms set to Saucy Santana’s rap.

Meanwhile, Montana Rep.-elect Sam Forstag wore an unbuttoned shirt during a CNN interview and used a chainsaw for a campaign ad.

The new class of politicians is not like the buttoned-up Democrats of the past. Lauren Kapp, a digital strategist who helped with Kamala Harris’s 2024 campaign and launched the Democratic Party’s first TikTok account, said the type of fancam edits of candidates being released now “would have never made it through approvals back then.”

Now, “Democrats at large and the DNC [Democratic National Committee] are starting to understand the attention economy in which we live,” Kapp said. “In order to break through, you have to do or say something worth paying attention to within the first couple of frames of a video ― not seconds.”

And one of the quickest ways to get a voter’s attention online is to start showing off a candidate’s physical attributes. For some voters, “they’re not going to read a New York Times story, but they’ll watch that TikTok of Abdul El-Sayed lifting with Hasan Piker,” said Monica Venzke, a Democratic communications professional.

She noted that using a candidate’s good looks is “such a good fundraising tool, and I think that definitely led to some of these victories.”

Venzke’s passion project, “Boyfriends We Deserve,” highlights the attractiveness of Democratic candidates on social media. Her account’s endorsement of Jack Schlossberg even got used in a fundraising text that read in part: “A good boyfriend is someone who listens. Same with a good Rep.”

Venzke said the “thirst trappification” of political candidates is not just meant to appeal to women and queer people who may be physically attracted to watching these candidates up close. She cited the success of Sam Forstag, who became the first Democrat elected to the House in Montana in more than 30 years. In the months before his race, Forstag leaned into his physical prowess and released a video of himself fixing a tire while discussing “how to fix a system rigged in favor of the ultrarich” like Elon Musk.

“It kind of gives straight guys… permission to be a Democrat again,” Venzke said. “If this Montanan smoke jumper who fixes up trucks and jumps out of planes to put out fires can be a Democrat, so can I.”

Perceived hotness is not a new bipartisan issue. Trump has long had a habit of calling out the physical attributes of his allies, most recently praising Jon Husted’s butt as a “pile of muscle” at a political rally for the midterms.

“U.S. elections have always been masculinity contests ― which is one reason women are often at such a disadvantage in them ― and it’s just the ways that candidates perform masculinity that changes,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of government and politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Before El-Sayed bench-pressed 315 pounds on social media, candidates would use their military experience, height or powerful voice to signal their masculinity, Cassino noted.

“Even in the 18th century, people were making fun of John Adams for being ‘fat,’ and more than a hundred years ago, Teddy Roosevelt made physical fitness and activity a big part of his political appeal,” he cited. “One of George Washington’s qualifications was his height.”

But Washington wasn’t being remixed to Megan Thee Stallion’s “Big Ole Freak” by an official TikTok account for the Democratic Party. Cassino thinks the current array of thirsty campaign videos isn’t necessarily about sex appeal, but about establishing a candidate’s strength and perseverance, which are coded as masculine behaviors.

“It’s not great that Americans think masculine traits are synonymous with leadership traits, but as long as they do, both male and female candidates are going to be trying to prove that they have those masculine traits so that voters will trust them as leaders,” Cassino said. “The fact that muscles and appearance are hard to get, and require work, and can’t be easily faked makes them a really valuable signal.”

Of course, charming looks and an impressive physique may get a voter’s attention, but it takes something more to keep it.

“Once you have seen them, it is their job to win your money and your support,” Venzke said, noting that “obviously John Ossoff is gorgeous. I’m not a Georgian, but I would vote for him if he was ugly because he’s a great candidate.”

And for these midterms, showcasing good-looking candidates with clear anti-Trump policies was a winning Democratic strategy –– and a sharp counterpoint to the hypermasculine approach that Trump’s MAGA allies have taken.

“After so much of the manosphere propaganda that is coming from the right, it’s nice to see the Democrats also showing they can win in this game and to use this to their own advantage,” said Einav Rabinovitch-Fox, a historian who writes about gender and politics. “It is good that the Democrats are presenting their own version of the ‘sexy’ candidate to run counter to the MAGA masculine men.”

The smoldering campaign videos may have ended for now, but that doesn’t mean the newly elected candidates’ hotness will be suppressed. Venzke expects the thirst-trap strategy to shift as these candidates go to Congress and speak up in Senate hearings: “These super sexy, manly guys, I’m going to see looking super hot in suits all day,” she said.

Take it from the newly elected candidates. After his win, El-Sayed’s official TikTok account released a video of a black V-neck shirt getting replaced by a black suit. The caption reads: “Change is coming.”