AdImpact, which tracks political spending ads, says the current price tag for dollars being spent on the upcoming 2026 elections is nearing just over $1 billion.
Most of the money is being spent on broadcast, cable, radio, digital and satellite.
Their forecast for the remainder of 2025 and for the year 2026 looks like this:
2026 will be the most expensive midterm on record, where political ad spending is projected to reach $10.8B, up more than 20% from 2022.
The $5B Battle for Congress: House and Senate races projected to total $5B, nearly half of all cycle spending.
Early Spending Surge: Advertisers have already spent $900M through August 26, 2025, pacing well ahead of 2023 and 2021
But not all the money will be spent on just the races but also issue ads. Healthcare Issue 2026 ($52 million), Immigration Issue 2026 ($43 million), and the New York City mayoral race ($39 million).
Advertiser Type Breakout: Issue advocacy advertisers (73%), candidates (27%).
Top Teams: Pro-Healthcare ($47 million), Anti-Immigration ($40 million), Pro-Democrat ($31 million), Pro-Big Beautiful Bill ($26 million), Pro-Abigail Spanberger ($25 million).
Which political parties will spend the most? Ad Impact says the Democrats will spend around $450 million, Independents $319 million, and Republicans $298 million.
The top advertisers spending money on the media outlets are the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ($43 million), Spanberger for Virginia Governor ($25 million), One Nation ($24 million), Greater Garden State ($19 million), and Americans for Prosperity ($18 million).
Which specific media venue is garnering the most money? According to Ad Impact, Broadcast ($334 million), Digital ($280 million), Cable ($228 million), CTV ($190 million), Radio ($29 million), Satellite ($4 million).
For the upcoming Florida gubernatorial race, GOP candidate Byron Donalds has already raised over $22 million for his GOP primary, and those numbers are expected to increase.
