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It is not very often the arts and culture sector plays such a heightened role in politics as the 2026 midterm election cycle.
The President’s House in Philadelphia became ground zero for new federal guidelines for how National Parks are interpreted. The renaming and renovation of the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., has become a legal battleground. Cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts in 2024 have put into question who deserves federal funding.
Could arts and culture issues impact the way people vote?
The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance released an Arts Voter Guide which asked several candidates running for Congress in the Philadelphia region for their stance on six arts questions.
The guide features responses from six candidates in three races for the U.S. House of Representatives: Democrat Bob Harvie and Republican Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District, Democrat Chris Rabb and independent candidate Dennis Mahoney in Pennsylvania’s 2nd Congressional District, and Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon and Republican Nick Manganaro in Pennsylvania’s 5th Congressional District.
Two candidates, Mahoney and Manganaro, did not respond. GPCA sent questions to gubernatorial candidates John Shapiro and Stacy Garrity, neither of whom responded.
The candidates were asked about federal funding for arts and humanities, investment and policies for National Parks, historic preservation protections and the creative economy.
The GPCA surveyed audience members at a 2023 Philadelphia mayoral debate and found that most consider the arts in determining how they vote.
“We did a survey and 99% of the respondents were active registered voters,” said Patricia Wilson Aden, president and CEO of the GPCA, who added that “72% indicated a candidate’s position on arts and culture issues would influence their votes.”
All responding candidates said they support funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Fitzpatrick said he supports NEA funding to “ensure more local, targeted priorities.” His challenger, Harvie, touted his previous support for the creation of an African American Museum of Bucks County during his time as a county commissioner.
Rabb said he would reverse recent cuts at the NEA. Scanlon said, “It’s more important than ever that Americans have resources that do not hide the parts [of our history] we don’t like to acknowledge.”
“The fact that they responded tells us that they understand the importance of arts and culture,” Aden said. “What we see, in some ways, is perhaps various levels of familiarity with some of the details of arts and culture legislation. That is not necessarily a measure of how supportive a candidate may be.”
