2026 Midterms Are the Costliest Ever as Ad Spending Passes $10 Billion

The 2026 midterm elections are on track to be the most expensive on record. NPR reports that more than $15 billion has been raised to influence control of Congress, and the ad tracker AdImpact said last Wednesday that spending on political advertising alone had passed $10 billion with about three weeks left before Election Day.

AdImpact projected in June that total midterm ad spending would reach $11.6 billion. That compares with $11.2 billion in the 2024 presidential cycle and $8.9 billion in the 2022 midterms, according to the analysis published by The New York Times and carried by the Boston Globe. The $10 billion figure leaves out hundreds of millions of dollars in political spending that ad tracking does not capture, and it does not count late additions to existing ad buys.

Republican advertisers are spending about 11 percent more than Democratic advertisers across primaries and general elections combined, a gap worth roughly $133 million in advertising. The biggest single spender is the Senate Leadership Fund, the top super PAC for Republican Senate candidates, which is on track to spend about $310 million. Counting about a half-dozen affiliated groups, its network's total is about $643 million. Tom Steyer, a billionaire who lost a June primary for California governor, spent about $210 million on ads, almost all of it his own money.

Texas leads all Senate states, with about half a billion dollars in scheduled spending. That total reflects a three-way Republican primary, a runoff between the top two, a Democratic primary and now the general election between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico. California's governor's race is projected to be the top state contest for advertising, at roughly $346 million.

The fundraising picture runs the other way. NPR's Stephen Fowler said Democratic nominees in House and Senate races are collecting very large amounts of donations, even though the Democratic Party itself remains unpopular. Republicans are also unpopular, largely because of the war in Iran, gas prices and the economy. In the 13 competitive races highlighted by the Cook Political Report, Republicans are being outraised by a 5-to-1 margin, NPR reported. A few megadonors, including Elon Musk, are putting money into super PACs to push voters toward Republicans.

The spending is also being aimed in telling places. NPR said 75 percent of planned ad buys are in toss-up races or races leaning Republican, a sign that both parties see more GOP-held seats in play than usual. Democrats are trying to turn their cash advantage in individual campaigns into wins, while Republican groups lean on outside money and big super PAC checks to make up the difference.

For scale, AdImpact noted that $10 billion is more than North American domestic box office ticket sales last year and more than all ads booked during the 2025-2026 NFL season. Totals will keep rising until November 3, and the final figures will not be known until campaign finance reports are filed after the election.