Americans Dont Like Politicians In Debt

The average politician is likely to fall in the second category. Among candidates running for office in the November midterm elections, or defending their seats, mortgages of hundreds of thousands of dollars -- or a loan against collateral of as much as $25 million, in the case of Ohio’s GOP Rep. Jim Renacci -- are more common than smaller loans for credit cards or education, according to personal financial disclosures.

For example, in the dozen most contested Senate races, the only candidate or incumbent to report a student loan was Kyrsten Sinema, the Democratic representative running for a seat in Arizona, while her GOP challenger, Rep. Martha McSally, was the only one to report credit card debt, which she said was paid off in February.

That’s in contrast to the average American voter: The Morning Consult survey in September found almost half (49 percent) of voters reported having credit card debt, with car loans the second-most common debt.

But Amanda Litman, co-founder of Run for Something, a progressive group that encourages millennials to seek higher office, said the group’s experience with candidates shows that many voters welcome younger candidates who talk about their own student loans or medical bills.

“It’s an indicator of something larger broken with the system as opposed to a personal failing,” she said about those kinds of debts.

Morning Consult’s September survey suggests that this tactic of more personally connecting a candidate’s financial situation could help ameliorate the negative connotation attached to debt.

When specifically asked if personal debt such as school loans or credit card debt would make people more or less likely to vote for an elected official, a plurality of 44 percent said it would make no difference, while 26 percent said they would be less likely.

“The reality is if we want candidates who aren’t old, rich white men to fund their way into office, we have to be more accommodating and encouraging to people who have gone through what most Americans have gone through,” she said.

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