USAupdated 1h ago3 min read
2026 U.S. Midterm Elections Set $11.6 Billion Spending Record, AdImpact Says
“for many voters, the election is less about the political battles in Washington than the financial pressures affecting their everyday lives.”
“This election cycle will reach $11.6 billion US in spending, according to AdImpact, an advertising intelligence company that analyzes political advertising.”
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
AdImpact estimates $11.6 billion will be spent, the most expensive U.S. midterms. Spending would exceed 2022's $8.9B and 2024's $11.2B records.
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Spending and super PACs
The 2026 U.S. midterm elections are shaping up to be the most expensive elections in the country's history, with this election cycle reaching $11.6 billion US in spending, according to AdImpact. The spending total would surpass the midterm record set in 2022 at $8.9 billion US and the $11.2 billion US spent during the 2024 presidential cycle, and Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico alone is projected to have raised $146 million U.S. Henrik Schatzinger said, "It's a pretty wild situation," as he described how, in 2014, contributing at least $2.3 million US was needed to be among the Top 40 donors, while this election would require at least $25 million US.
Alex Keena said, "The Republicans are kind of the party of billionaires and the Democrats are the party of millionaires," as she linked the fundraising gap to the current state of American politics. AdImpact said, "And now we're seeing these groups spend alongside candidate campaigns in record-shattering amounts," as the cycle’s outside spending and super PAC activity intensify.
Voters weigh costs and war
Americans head to the polls next Tuesday, Nov 3, in closely watched midterm elections that could shift the balance of power in Washington, as rising living costs and concerns over US foreign policy weigh on voters, according to CNA.
In Harrisburg, a voter told CNA, "A lot of people are struggling, elders, childcare, all types of things like that. So just listen to the people, what they really need," while another voter said, "I care about our country. Like, there's no other countries that are going to war for other countries. Just sick of being world police."
A trucker told CNA that fuel costs had doubled, leaving him with few options to offset the increase, and Joseph Hollander, CEO of Scranton Primary Health Center, said, "The cost of doing business just keeps increasing – utility costs, supply costs, with the expense of transportation increasing."
Care worker Wanda Caroll-Russell warned that medication costs could become unmanageable, saying, "Some of the medications I take, I won’t be able to handle it if I don’t have healthcare, because that medication is US$800."
CNA said the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, expanded health insurance coverage after it was enacted in 2010, but it also described renewed concerns about access as enhanced health insurance subsidies expire.
Cyberattack and election stakes
The website of the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) was targeted by hackers, and the agency took its electronic filing system offline to implement a fix just days before the midterm elections, Reuters reported through BFM.
BFM said the system had been down since the night from Monday to Tuesday, October 27, and an FEC spokesman for the agency’s electronic filing department said, "A malicious actor attempted to hack the FEC systems."
BFM added that political groups and partisan and lobbying organizations were unable to file their spending reports for 24 to 48 hours, while a web search of old filings remained accessible.
Brendan Glavin, a research director at the nonpartisan OpenSecrets research center, told Reuters that the hacking could be "significant," because "These are key reports that allow us to know what is happening."
BFM also said the FEC does not play any role in administering the American elections themselves, and it described the outage as not affecting voters’ ability to vote while emphasizing the FEC’s role in tracking candidates’ and political committees’ expenditures.