Is the RNC setting itself up to blow the 2026 midterms by refusing to adapt to how elections are actually won today? That risk is real. Even after reports that Republicans are preparing to make mail-in voting a central part of their midterm strategy, the RNC insists it has no plans to fully embrace it.
Earlier this week, Politico reported that the Republican National Committee plans to push mail-in voting ahead of the 2026 midterms, suggesting a dramatic shift in party strategy.
“And the Republican National Committee intends to build on the aggressive early mail and in-person voting campaign it ran successfully in 2024, after shying away from the practice in 2020, while also supporting election security efforts, including stopping ballots from being counted after Election Day,” the paper wrote, citing a source familiar with their plans.
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But hold on—the RNC says that's not quite accurate. According to GOP press secretary Kiersten Pels, the committee isn't breaking with President Trump or embracing mail-in voting as a primary strategy. "The RNC's mission is to protect the vote and turn out the vote by strengthening voter confidence," Pels told the Daily Caller. “Our election integrity work has boosted Republican participation by addressing concerns about security, and this cycle we’re again ensuring every ballot is secure and properly counted.”
Translation: they're not "leaning in" to mail-in ballots the way Democrats do. Could that be a costly mistake?
Maybe, maybe not. It doesn’t sound like they’re actively discouraging it, which is good. And I say that as someone who hates early voting.
Here's the reality. Since 2020, Trump has been vocal about his concerns with mail-in voting — legitimately so — repeatedly discouraging his supporters from using the method. The problem is that when only one party votes early, that party gets an advantage. The more early votes they bank, the more resources they have for Election Day get-out-the-vote efforts. Over 43% of votes cast in the 2020 presidential election were mail-in ballots, the highest percentage in history. Democrats have turned early and mail-in voting into a core part of their strategy, and it works even before taking into account the high risk of fraud.
So in 2024, the party didn't exactly shun early voting, and, as PJ Media reported at the time, it worked. Even though Republicans didn’t vote early in as high numbers as Democrats, they cut into the Democrats’ early-vote lead, particularly in swing states.
Republicans will reportedly encourage voters to cast ballots "any way they can," but the emphasis won’t be on mail-in voting. A source familiar with the strategy noted that many Trump voters already distrust mail-in ballots, which is entirely justified. This, of course, makes it both challenging and strategically unproductive to suddenly promote the method. The party is also awaiting potential action from the White House. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in November that Trump and his team were considering an executive order to ban mail-in voting altogether, which would obviously change the game, but would likely fail any legal challenge, since elections are state-run.
Heading into 2026, the RNC is trying to thread the needle. If it goes all-in on mail-in ballots, it risks backlash from the base. If it ignores early voting, it hands Democrats a built-in advantage. Republicans need to carefully strike a middle ground, participating without fully embracing it, and hopefully, win enough elections that we can finally end mail-in voting
