Beef prices and meat-eating become a midterm campaign battleground

Left · 1Meat has become an unexpected battleground in the 2026 midterm elections, as Democrats and Republicans argue over high prices and the Iran war and also over who is the more committed meat-eater. 1 Left · 2The latest example came in Mississippi, where Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom released a video using a clip of Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith saying that if consumers are upset over high beef prices, "you know you have so many proteins to choose from." In the video, a man grilling burgers replies, "Pick another protein? I'd rather pick another senator instead." 1 2 Left · 2Hyde-Smith is a cattle rancher and former state agriculture commissioner, and Colom, a prosecutor, is running a longshot challenge. Her campaign spokesman Nathan Calvert responded: "It is Scott Colom who supports Biden-era policies that drove up inflation." 1 2

Left · 2The Mississippi race is unusual because a Democrat is attacking a Republican over beef. Elsewhere, Republicans have portrayed Democrats as vegans or opponents of meat, to suggest they are culturally out of step, hostile to local cattle industries or not manly enough. 1 2 Left · 2In Texas, Republicans seized on an old interview in which Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico said his campaign for the state legislature was going vegan; Talarico has since been seen publicly eating barbecue to counter the charge that he is not a real Texan. 1 2 Left · 2In Colorado's 8th district, Republicans are targeting Democratic candidate Manny Rutinel, 31, who is challenging Republican Rep. Gabe Evans. Rutinel was photographed shirtless in college with a PETA banner, founded Climate Refarm in 2021, which advocated cutting meat consumption and signed letters supporting higher taxes on meat and dairy, and backed a failed 2024 ballot measure to ban a Denver lamb slaughterhouse. The district includes ranches, dairy farms, meat processors and the headquarters of JBS Swift. 1 2

Left · 2The conservative Daily Wire released undercover video of a Rutinel campaign official saying he eats meat "as little as possible." Rutinel, who has eaten steak tacos on the campaign trail, said: "I don't think Coloradans care about what's on my plate, I think they care more about what's on theirs." Evans said: "I don't care what he eats personally. I care that he wants to use the power of the government to make everyone eat that way." 1 2 Left · 2Republicans have made similar attacks elsewhere: on Lindsay James in Iowa's 2nd district for backing "meatless May" in a 2020 Facebook post, and on Amish Shah in Arizona's 1st district over his vegetarianism and animal rights activism. In Iowa's Senate race, Rep. Ashley Hinson criticised Democrat Josh Turek for opposing a bill banning lab-grown meat sales, saying he would "rather have meat that comes from a lab than from our family farms." 1 2 Left · 2Democrats have mostly used meat as one example of staples costing more under President Trump. Trump has tried to lower prices by opening U.S. markets to beef imports, especially from Argentina, whose government is led by a close ally. The reporting says this angered U.S. producers while prices stayed high, a potential weakness in Republican-leaning states. 1 2

Left · 2According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average pound of ground beef cost $6.79 last month, up from $5.55 in January 2025, when Trump returned to office. 1 2