Dace Potas , USA TODAY; Corruption is Trump's weak spot. Both parties are coming for it | Opinion
[Kip Currier: What was the biggest concern for this year's U.S. midterm election voters? Corruption.
As CNN's Harry Enten unpacked in a November 10, 2026 segment analyzing data from a CNN voter poll:
"For all of the talk about cost of living, all the talk about the war in Iran, what was the number one issue that voters said was crucial to their vote? It was government corruption actually beat out the cost of living which comes at 49%. Government corruption came in at 55%. It was the only issue in which a majority of voters, in fact, said was a crucial factor to their vote. It beat everything. Cost of living. Immigration. The war in Iran. AI and data centers. As it turns out corruption was the name of the game and it played across the political map." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-kPOuYTnVQ
Corruption is Kryptonite for functioning, healthy, responsive democracies. Corruption erodes public trust. Corruption undermines transparency and accountability. Corruption helps the few who benefit from its systemic inculcation and self-enrichment. Corruption harms the many who are the victims of corrupt practices and structures.
My book, Ethics, Information, and Technology, includes sections on character and professional ethics that address corruption and identify best practices for promoting integrity, transparency, accountability, upholding of public trust, and the avoidance of conflicts of interest.]
"The Republican Party suffered heavy losses in the midterm elections for a multitude of reasons. An ailing economy, the war in Iran and immigration enforcement have been liabilities for President Donald Trump for some time. But one issue rose to the top: corruption.
In exit polls, 90% of voters called corruption a crucial or major factor in their vote for Congress. Those voters went 57% for Democrats.
Partisans naturally see the other side as the corrupt one, and voters were split on which party would better fight it: 37% said Democrats, 31% said Republicans and about a third said neither. But voters fed up with political corruption sent a message in the midterms, and they broke for Democrats."
