‘If Everything Is Urgent, Then Nothing Is’: Americans Are Tired of Campaign Messages

Americans are burnt out on political texts and emails. And it could have real consequences for the campaign business writ large.

A new survey of 4,650 Americans conducted by Murmuration and digital advertising platform Civic Shout underscores the extent of the fatigue in the wake of the 2026 midterms. The takeaway: Not only are Americans souring on the sheer volume of frequency of political texts and emails, but it’s also costing campaigns valuable trust, voter engagement and money.

Overall, 54 percent of respondents said they received political texts and emails at least daily in the months leading up to Election Day, including 44 percent who said that they received multiple messages a day. For some Americans, the outreach has gotten so frustrating that they’ve avoided engaging with political groups, just to put an end to the onslaught of messages. 

And despite 68 percent of respondents expressing interest in political and civic engagement, 42 percent said that they’ve decided, at some point, against donating, signing a petition or getting involved with a political organization, because they didn’t want to receive more texts or emails, the survey found. 

That should be a “wake-up call for political operatives,” Civic Shout CEO Josh Nelson said. Campaigns and other political groups have “spent years trying to squeeze more money out of people’s inboxes.” Those tactics aren’t only unethical and unsustainable, Nelson said. They cost the broader fundraising ecosystem much-needed credibility. 

“When a campaign bombards someone with manipulative texts or fake deadlines, the damage doesn’t stop with that campaign,” Nelson said. “It spills over to the reproductive rights groups, immigrant rights organizations, environmental groups and other nonprofits and causes that depend on those same people taking action.”

One glaring problem with political texts and emails uncovered by the survey: Nearly half of respondents – 48 percent – said that such messages make them feel like campaigns “mostly want something” from them. Just 11 percent said that those communications help them feel informed and involved in politics, while 32 percent said it’s a mixture of both. 

The frustration runs so deep that 71 percent of respondents said they would sign up for a national “do-not-contact” list that would put a stop to all political campaign texts, if they had the option to do so. 

“It’s a really strong indication of just how far off the rails this has gone,” Nelson said. “It should be a warning sign for the people making decisions on behalf of campaigns. Voters and citizens are trying to tell campaigns that they’re sick of this s**t and they don’t want it anymore.” 

It’s not that political outreach is a bad thing, in and of itself, said Sarah Stamper, the chief research officer at Murmuration. Despite the deep frustration among Americans with political messages, that outreach yielded some positive results, the survey found.

Twenty-nine percent of respondents said they turned out to vote as a result of receiving a political email or text, while another 24 percent said that such communications helped them learn more about a candidate or issue.

Stamper said that, “if campaigns want to build lasting civic participation, we have to think beyond the next click or donation.” In other words, campaigns shouldn’t simply think of their contact lists as ATMs. They need to respect voters by giving them valuable information and opportunities to participate – or the choice to not participate at all. 

“There are changes that could make a meaningful difference,” Stamper said. “You could make opting out a real choice. You could actually provide value and meaningful information and opportunities to participate locally on the other 364 days of the year.”

The survey also suggests that there’s not one simple fix for digital political outreach. 

Asked what bothers them the most about political texts and emails, 55 percent said they receive too many messages, 54 percent said they get messages they never signed up for and 50 percent said they’re fed up by exaggerated claims or false urgency. Another 46 percent said that campaign texts and emails include too many donation requests. 

All of that eventually wears on people, Stamper said.

“If everything is urgent, then nothing is,” Stamper said. “And that’s what we’re hearing from Americans. Just day-in-day-out exhaustion.”