The 2026 midterms have officially become the most expensive election cycle ever, with a handful of races dominating the ad spending charts.
On Monday, the current cycle reached $11.21 billion in ad spending and reservations, surpassing the $11.2 billion spent during the 2024 cycle, which included $3.2 billion for just the presidential race, according to AdImpact.
The firm also found that four races this year rank among the 10 most expensive nonpresidential races on record, with a fifth race this cycle not far behind. The totals below account for ad spending and future reservations through Oct. 27 and include spending in both primary and general elections.
Here are five of the most expensive races this cycle:
Texas Senate
The U.S. Senate race in Texas has become the single most expensive nonpresidential race of all time, with $557.6 million in ad spending and future reservations as of Tuesday.
That number includes the notoriously expensive primaries earlier this year. In the general election match-up between Democratic nominee James Talarico and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Republicans have spent more than double what Democrats have spent on the race, according to a separate AdImpact general-election update released yesterday.
Republicans have spent $269.4 million on the general election alone, while Democrats have spent $130.8 million.
However, Talarico has raised more direct donations, while Paxton has largely relied on PAC money, meaning the Democrat is getting a lot more bang for his buck down the home stretch.
Ohio Senate
The Ohio special Senate race crossed $500 million in ad spending and reservations this week, making this cycle the only one on record to have multiple races surpass half a billion dollars.
This year’s Senate race in Ohio ranks as the third most expensive nonpresidential race of all time, falling behind the 2024 Ohio Senate race, when former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) was unseated by Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio).
The state got two new senators that following January, when Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Vice President Vance. Brown is now trying to earn his seat back, as Husted, the former lieutenant governor, seeks to win his first election for his Senate seat.
California governor
California’s governor’s race has drawn $349.4 million in ad spending and reservations as of Tuesday, becoming the most expensive governor’s race ever, though much of that money was spent on the crowded primary race.
By the June primary, spending had already reached $315.8 million, with billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer accounting for $201.2 million of that total before he lost.
In the general election, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra (D) is heavily favored to defeat former Fox News host Steve Hilton (R).
According to AdImpact’s Tuesday ranking, the 2026 governor's race ranks seventh on the list of all-time most expensive nonpresidential races.
Michigan Senate
In eighth place on the all-time list, as of Tuesday, Michigan’s open Senate race had drawn $347.5 million in ad spending and reservations, as Democrat Abdul El-Sayed faces off against former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) for retiring Sen. Gary Peters's (D-Mich.) seat.
The primaries alone saw $98.2 million by July 31, a few days before the election, already more than tripling the state’s previous record for a nonpresidential primary. That made it the third most expensive Senate primary on record, according to AdImpact, behind this year’s Senate race in Texas and the 2022 Senate race in Arizona. Much of that spending went to El-Sayed's Democratic opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.).
A separate AdImpact update released yesterday put Republican general election spending in Michigan at $143.5 million, compared with Democrats’ $117 million.
Georgia governor
The state’s 2020 special election for Senate ranked 10th in AdImpact’s tally, with $303.5 million spent on that race. But this year’s contest for governor falls not far behind, with $297 million spent as of Monday on aired ads and future reservations. That total is largely driven by the $268.5 million in GOP spending — mostly from the personal fortune of Republican nominee Rick Jackson.
Much of the total spending was dished out during the primaries. By mid-June, just days before the GOP runoff, the race had already drawn more than $162 million in advertising, according to AdImpact data analyzed by the Wesleyan Media Project. Republican candidates accounted for roughly $133.6 million of that.
Jackson, a healthcare executive, now faces former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) in the race to succeed term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp (R). Polling shows the race in a statistical dead heat.
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