McHENRY, Ill. — “This election is not about Donald Trump.”

That declaration from Democrat Lauren Underwood might seem odd. She’s challenging Republican Rep. Randy Hultgren in Illinois’ 14th Congressional District outside of a Chicago; and to the extent Democrats are poised to flip the House, their surge is being fueled by voters and campaign contributors motivated by a burning desire to put a check on President Trump.

But Underwood maintains that her bid to unseat Hultgren is about the incumbent and his opposition to the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

In midterm election campaigns across the country, Democratic and Republican candidates are spending much of their time on kitchen table issues like healthcare and the economy. They tend to give rather short shrift to salacious topics, like Trump’s latest provocative tweet, that tend to dominate the national political news coverage generated out of New York and Washington.

[Top Democrat: Trump talk about himself means Democrats can win on the issues]

“This election is not about Donald Trump,” Underwood said in an interview with the Washington Examiner after she hosted a round table on climate change and the environment at a local community college here. “Healthcare is why I got into the race.”

To be sure, the television and radio airwaves are filled with advertising that revolves around broad national messages, and focuses on Trump. Some of these ads are being run by individual House campaigns; many are being broadcast by financially flush outside groups that are affiliated with the Democratic and Republican parties.

[Opinion: Obama, the Great Divider when in office, lacks the credibility to lecture America]

But around voters on the campaign trail, candidates often tailor remarks to criticizing their opponent on the 2018 ballot, and usually limit the discussion to pitching (or defending) their legislative agenda. It was unclear on Monday if that would change in the aftermath of Saturday’s massacre of 11 Jews by an anti-Semitic gunman as they worshipped in a Pittsburgh synagogue.

Like Underwood, Republican Rep. Peter Roskam, facing a challenge from Democrat Sean Casten, is less interested in talking national issues.

With a tough race in suburban Chicago, in the neighboring Sixth Congressional District, it’s understandable that Roskam doesn’t want to discuss Trump. Instead, the embattled Republican incumbent tries to keep the focus on the low unemployment rate and high rate of economic growth that have resulted since the Republican-controlled Congress pass a sweeping $1.3 trillion tax overhaul.

Notably, Roskam in an interview with the Washington Examiner last week didn’t raise the issue of the migrant caravan headed toward the Southern border; the threat of illegal immigrant gangs; or the #jobsnotmobs meme being pushed by some Republicans, including some in vulnerable suburban districts just like his. Indeed, Roskam didn’t even bother warn about House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., becoming the speaker.

Rather, he spent a campaign swing through his district promoting tax reform and his work to address the opioid crisis — issues that interest voters but that get less national airtime.

“I’m running against one person,” Roskam said. “My goal is to win a majority on Nov. 6 and so I’m focused on one person who’s the messenger of policies and tone that don’t reflect this district and so. I don’t like the all or nothing business. I don’t think it’s persuasive.”