Political advertising in the 2026 midterms reached $11.4 billion by Oct. 28, about 28% above the $8.9 billion logged for the entire 2022 cycle, according to AdImpact data shared with TheWrap. The headline beneath the total is where the money moved: connected TV more than doubled, cable fell 26%, and broadcast held onto the largest share even as its grip slipped.
Streaming clears cable
Broadcast took roughly 50% of the $11.4 billion, or $5.73 billion, up 21% from 2022. Cable collected $1.25 billion, or 11%, down 26%. Connected TV jumped 122% to $2.42 billion, giving it 21% of political spend and moving it past cable as the second-biggest television category.
Other digital channels — Facebook, Google, Snapchat, X and similar platforms — rose 63% to $1.7 billion and 14.6% of the market, though AdImpact does not split that line by platform.
That is a sharp structural shift. Broadcast and cable together accounted for about 61% of political ad dollars through late October, down from nearly 72% in the full 2022 cycle. The money is following viewers, but not as fast as viewing itself has moved.
Why broadcast still wins budgets
Traditional TV remains the default for political buyers because it is predictable and reaches large audiences quickly, especially in live sports and news. In October, sports accounted for 71% of national political TV spending, up from 56% during the 2024 cycle and 30% in 2022, per iSpot data reported by Bloomberg.
“What stands out is how much money is being spent and how resilient traditional television continues to be,” said Jaime Vasil, group vice president of client development at Basis.
Jeff Cosgrove, chief of digital media at TargetSmart, put it more bluntly, recalling an industry joke: “nobody gets fired for buying more TV for a political campaign.” His view matches the data: larger organizations are slow to move, while smaller campaigns with tighter budgets are using more digital because they have to target voters more selectively.
The real test is outcomes, not impressions
- In Texas, Republican Ken Paxton and allies outspent Democrat James Talarico’s side nearly three-to-one on broadcast — and lost.
- In Ohio, Republican Jon Husted lost despite his side controlling 61% of $292 million in broadcast spending.
- Elon Musk put about $445 million into federal races, including $153.5 million in attack ads against Talarico; candidates he backed suffered widespread defeats.
- Yet in Georgia, Democrat Jon Ossoff’s side doubled Republican Mike Collins’ broadcast spend and won.
Spending more clearly does not guarantee victory, but the outcomes don’t prove the money was wasted either. Candidate quality, turnout and the broader political environment make ad impact hard to isolate.
Vasil argues buyers need a clearer picture of cross-channel reach and frequency — whether they are finding new voters or bombarding the same ones. Cosgrove said the biggest surprise was how late digital spend accelerated, much of it landing in the final two weeks, which may leave too little time to build voter relationships.
If there is a lesson for 2028, it’s that paid media works better on top of an earned base. Talarico’s campaign manager Seth Krasne told C-SPAN the campaign’s earned media through social, press and community appearances moved internal polling by double digits before paid media even started.
Source: TheWrap
