Pro-GOP groups spend $694 million against Democrats in seven Senate battlegrounds

Outside groups have spent $693.6 million directly opposing Democratic candidates in seven Senate battlegrounds, according to a Newsweek analysis of Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. The states are Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Texas, which polling identifies as the tossup contests ¹.

Add $245.4 million spent in favor of Republicans, and the total on the GOP side of those races reaches $939 million. Democrats have $528 million: $128.7 million supporting their own candidates and $399.3 million opposing Republicans ¹.

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That is a gap of about $411 million. It is the money that does not come from the campaigns themselves.

Texas draws the most money

More has been spent against Texas Democrat James Talarico than against any other candidate: $207.6 million. Only $22.9 million has been spent explicitly backing him, so opposition spending is more than nine times support ¹.

From Channel GOPTalarico: Elon Musk is trying to buy Texas Senate seatJames Talarico · 139 plays · captioned, with the source named

Ohio's Sherrod Brown follows at $168.5 million against him, then Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed at $127.8 million. Texas is the costliest race for outside money overall, at $412.5 million ¹.

A few big donors drive the totals. In Texas, a PAC (political action committee) set up for the race, called Texas PAC, accounts for $112 million of the money spent against Talarico. It made five donations of more than $20 million in September alone ¹.

In Ohio, the group Defend American Jobs has put $55.8 million into the race between Republican Jon Husted and Brown. America PAC, Elon Musk's committee, has spent $58 million across the seven states ¹.

Other measures put the totals higher. KWTX reported that the whole Texas race passed $500 million by Oct. 14, citing CNN. The Texas Tribune reported that campaign finance filings revealed Musk has poured nearly $190 million into Texas PAC ads, and that super PACs tied to Senate Majority Leader John Thune have spent over $175 million ². Those figures use different methods than Newsweek's FEC count, so they do not match.

Big money is powerful.

Maine and Kansas

In every race, more is spent opposing candidates than supporting them. In all but Kansas, more is spent opposing Democrats than Republicans ¹.

In Maine, $63.3 million has been spent against Democrat Troy Jackson. That is nearly twice the $32.3 million spent against Republican Sen. Susan Collins ¹.

What the numbers leave out

The tally covers only independent expenditures, which are spending by outside groups that explicitly urge a vote for or against a candidate. It leaves out ads that mention a candidate without saying how to vote, and spending by the parties themselves ¹.

The analytics firm AdImpact says this is the most expensive election cycle in history, with $11.2 billion spent on aired ads and future reservations. It estimates $1.3 billion has already aired in these seven contests and the New Hampshire Senate race ¹.

Talarico says he is not intimidated by the spending. Baylor political science professor Pat Flavin told KWTX the Republican spending shows national Republicans see a chance their candidate could lose ².

That matters because outside groups rarely spend this much in states a party expects to win easily. The pattern is that money is flowing hardest where Democrats are competitive. Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

The Record

1. Sep 30, 2026Texas PAC made five donations of more than $20 million in September, three against Talarico and two for Ken Paxton ¹.
2. Oct 14, 2026CNN reported total spending in the Texas Senate race passed $500 million, KWTX said ².
3. Oct 29, 2026Newsweek's FEC analysis put outside spending against Democrats in seven battleground states at $693.6 million ¹.

Sources

1. Newsweek, “Republicans Spending $694M to Stop Democrats in These 7 Key Senate Races” (2026-10-29). newsweek.com/republicans-spending-694m-stop-democrats-7-key-
2. KWTX, “Toss up: Texas Senate race tops $500 million in spending as Talarico, Paxton trade attacks” (2026-10-19). kbtx.com/2026/10/20/toss-up-texas-senate-race-tops-500-milli

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