EXCLUSIVE — Competitive Senate contests could present new political lanes for so-called tort reform advocates to limit civil lawsuits as voters look to politicians to lower inflation.
A majority of voters polled across five states with battleground Senate races — North Carolina, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, and New Hampshire — indicated that abusing the use of civil lawsuits has contributed to higher goods and services, and that their senators should address the issue.
The survey was commissioned by Protecting American Consumers Together, a group that pushes for tort reform in states across the country.
The contentious legal issue is a long-standing priority among Republican elected officials, including those in Congress like Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), based on the premise that predominantly left-leaning lawyers abuse class-action and other civil lawsuits against companies for harm or injury. The outcome, tort reform advocates say, is a trickle-down effect that raises the costs of goods and services across the economy, particularly for insurance premiums.
The five polled battlegrounds are likely to determine the makeup of the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. Across those states, Democrats are defending three seats compared to just two for Republicans.
The right-leaning U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that the costs and compensation from civil lawsuits equate to more than $4,200 annually per household.
Presented with those figures in the survey, roughly two-thirds of respondents supported tort reform, including 93% who want increased transparency for attorney fees, 83% who support capping personal injury lawyer fees at 20%, and 68% who back “loser pays” stipulations to slap the party that loses with the winning party’s legal fees.
Nearly 8-in-10, or 79%, say it’s important for senators to help prevent tort law abuse, according to the survey.
With persistent inflation and President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs that could further hike prices, pocketbook issues are likely to remain a central campaign theme for the 2026 midterm elections.
In Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) is mulling a run against Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and made tort reform a top priority, state lawmakers recently passed Kemp-inspired legislation overhauling civil lawsuits in a way that proponents say will limit frivolous cases that render hefty legal judgments and insurance hikes. Opponents argued it takes away vital legal recourse for those who have been wronged, particularly by companies.
There’s also precedent for tort reform being a prominent national political topic, even without major changes being enacted by Congress.
During a pandemic-era debate in 2020 over providing aid to state and local governments, then-Senate GOP Leader McConnell sought to curtail the ability for lawsuits to be brought by employees and customers over alleged safety shortcomings as businesses reopened.
Former Utah Sen. Mitt Romney entered the tort reform fray during his first presidential campaign in 2007 by calling for a cap on punitive damages from medical malpractice lawsuits amid a national debate over healthcare insurance, saying “lottery-sized awards and frivolous settlements” undermined healthcare providers.
Former President George W. Bush also made tort reform an issue during his 2004 reelection campaign.
The survey found that 92% would prefer their senators take votes that would weaken so-called billboard attorneys, those often most associated with abusing the system through personal injury lawsuits.
DEMOCRATS’ TRUMP RESISTANCE CRISIS SPREADS TO THE LEGAL WORLD
The poll commissioned by PACT was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies from March 13-18 among 1,500 registered voters split evenly between each of the five battleground states. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.53 percentage points.
Among all respondents, 46% voted for Trump and 47% voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris. The ideological split was 31% Republican, 30% Democrat, and 38% independent.