House Speaker Mike Johnson believes older Americans represent a voting bloc whose experiences could benefit the underdog Republicans in the coming midterms.
As democratic socialism rises in popularity these Americans remember images of struggle overseas wrought by governments favoring socialism.
Most polling for the midterms predicts that Democrats will take control of the House. RealClearPolling.com shows control of the Senate tightly contested with many races toss-ups, one of them involving Democrat Abdul El-Sayed against the GOP’s Mike Rogers in Michigan.
El-Sayed has worked to avoid the “socialist” tag but has strong historical and ongoing ties to the Democrat Socialists of America (DSA).
El-Sayed spoke at six different DSA events in previous campaigns and was embraced in Michigan’s largest city as “a longtime friend of Detroit DSA,” The Federalist Times reported.
During the current campaign the DSA has mobilized its resources on El-Sayed’s behalf as its leadership has showered him with praise.
Election Day is Nov. 3.
“This threat of socialism and Marxism and communism resonates with older Americans in particular because they remember the Cold War. They remember the threats. Some of these people have fled from socialist countries and come to America and they know what is going on here and they're very very motivated,” Johnson said in a weekend interview Family Research Council President Tony Perkins.
Remembering ‘duck and cover’
Rising from the aftermath of World War II, when America and Great Britain aligned with Russia to defeat Nazi Germany, the Cold War was a decades-long struggle for global influence between the U.S. and Russia.
American school children in the 1950s and 1960s practiced nuclear-attack drills designed to protect them in the event of a Russian atomic bomb attack. The drills were commonly known as “duck and cover.”
It didn’t end until the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. By then the face of socialism faced economic stagnation along with shortages and long lines for food and other goods and services.
The Soviet system was effective at mobilizing resources for selected national objectives, but it proved much less effective at sustaining a prosperous, innovative economy while protecting political freedom.
AARP, also known as the American Associated for Retired Persons, released data last week that found 83% of Americans older than 50 are extremely motivated to vote.
These voters aren’t locked into positions and are “persuadable” with their top concerns being affordability, Social Security and MediCare, AARP reported.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll in December 2025 found that voters ages 50 and older preferred Republican congressional candidates by 46%- 38%. In the same poll, voters under 50 favored Democrats by 42% to 31%.
Reuters also noted that older voters make up a larger share of midterm electorates than presidential electorates.
Johnson says the reaction he’s getting on the campaign trail is that older Americans appreciate the accomplishments of this Republican-led Congress.
He cited tax cuts for families and for Social Security.
“What I'm seeing and what I'm hearing from that demographic is that they're so grateful for what we've done with the great record that our incumbents and our candidates are running on,” Johnson said.
Pocket money is important to all voters, but this generation appreciates American freedom and believes it’s under siege, he said.
“They know this insurgent left that's taking over the Democrat Party is a threat to freedom for their grandchildren and their children and all of us. And so, they're coming out and they're very, very engaged.”
Early voting data
In Georgia, an early-voting tracker reported that voters age 65 and older accounted for 46.8% of accepted ballots through October 18, compared with 39.5% at the same point in the 2024 general election.
In Colorado, reports show nearly 30% of registered voters age 65 and older had returned their ballots, compared with nearly 3% of voters ages 18–34 and just over 7% of those ages 35–64.
“I think there's a lot of early voting going on right now around the country, and I know and I believe that the post-election polling and analysis will reflect that this was a this was a big senior turnout for this midterm, probably more than any other time,” Johnson said.
That turnout will pay off for Republicans, he believes.
“Millions of seniors in each state are no longer paying taxes on Social Security, and every time that I go through the list of all the achievements, and I get to that line, there's rousing applause because that's real money for real people. They know that we've fulfilled our promises, and they are ready to go out and cast their ballots,” Johnson said.
