Midterm ad spending hits record $11.2 billion as FEC filing system stays down

The 2026 midterms are now the most expensive ever measured by political advertising. The 2025–26 cycle reached a record $11.21 billion in ad spending and reservations with about a week before Election Day, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, as reported by TheWrap ¹.

That narrowly tops the $11.20 billion recorded in the 2023–24 presidential cycle. It is more than $2.3 billion above the $8.9 billion spent in the 2022 midterms ¹. The figures are not adjusted for inflation, and they include future ad reservations, not just ads already aired ¹.

On tapeNPR · Oct 27

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Where the money is going

TIME reported that Senate races are drawing much of the cash. Spending in Texas has topped $500 million, Ohio is above $450 million, and Maine is about $200 million, the most expensive Senate race per person this cycle ².

Republicans hold the spending edge in the tightest contests. AdImpact attributes $947 million to Republicans and $625 million to Democrats in toss-up Senate races, counting ads not yet aired ².

From Channel GOPJackson: Collins could defund the Iran warTroy Jackson · 158 plays · captioned, with the source named

Money does not guarantee a win. A Senate candidate with a $2 million TV advantage might gain about 10,000 votes, according to a 2021 study cited by TIME ².

Who is paying

Al Jazeera, using Federal Election Commission (FEC) data, found the 50 biggest donors and groups have given $2.77 billion this cycle. Republican-aligned givers account for $1.67 billion, about 60 percent. Democratic-aligned givers account for $832 million, about 30 percent ³.

Elon Musk leads the list at $446 million to Republican-aligned groups in Al Jazeera's count ³. TIME, using a different tally, put his giving to Republicans at $369 million since the start of 2025 ². Billionaire George Soros is the top Democratic-aligned donor at $102 million, followed by Mike Bloomberg at $84 million ³.

Most large gifts go to super PACs, which can take unlimited sums. An individual can give a federal candidate only $3,500 per election ³. Super PACs cannot coordinate ads with campaigns ².

The disclosure gap

The FEC's electronic filing system went offline around 10 p.m. Eastern on Monday, Oct. 26. Reuters reported hacking attempts, according to Newsweek ⁴. The FEC has not confirmed a breach or named suspects ⁴.

The outage blocks the 24-hour and 48-hour spending reports that show late money in individual races. The FEC says searching old reports still works. A compliance expert told Reuters, "there will be less disclosure on the elections" until it is fixed ⁴.

Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard law professor and campaign finance reform advocate, said the money is hidden from voters but not from politicians ³.

It's dark to us,

Democrats have also criticized the big-donor era. Troy Jackson, the Democrat running against Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, answered reports in August that Musk planned to get involved in his race ⁵.

we don't want his dirty money in politics.

What happens next

Polls close Tuesday, Nov. 3. The FEC has not announced when electronic filing will return ⁴. Until it does, some last-minute spending may not be public before voters cast ballots.

Knowing who paid for a message helps judge it. The pattern this year is a few very large donors shaping what appears on screen, with the paper trail delayed at the worst time.

The Record

1. Oct 19, 2026TIME reports midterm ad spending has passed $10 billion, projected to reach $11.6 billion by Election Day ².
2. Oct 26, 2026The FEC's electronic filing system goes offline around 10 p.m. Eastern amid reported hacking attempts ⁴.
3. Oct 27, 2026AdImpact tallies a record $11.21 billion in ad spending and reservations for the 2025–26 cycle ¹.

Sources

1. TheWrap, “Midterm Political Ad Spending Hits Record $11.21 Billion” (2026-10-27). thewrap.com/media-platforms/politics/midterm-elections-polit
2. TIME, “Midterm Ad Spending Has Surpassed $10B. Where Is the Money Coming From?” (2026-10-19). time.com/article/2026/10/19/midterm-ad-spending-has-surpasse
3. Al Jazeera, “Tracking the money: The biggest donors in the 2026 US midterm elections” (2026-10-27). aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/27/tracking-the-money-the-biggest
4. Newsweek, “Federal Election Commission offline after hacking attempt” (2026-10-27). newsweek.com/federal-election-commission-offline-hacking-att
5. WGME, “Senate candidate Troy Jackson calls out Elon Musk over supposed plans to help Sen. Collins” (2026-08-03). wgme.com/news/local/maine-senate-candidate-troy-jackson-call

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