Another two weeks and the 2014 World Cup will be a fading memory for most, while fans of the champion will still be basking in the glow of victory.

And then the last of this year’s quadrennial media events will be gearing up rapidly—the midterm election races.

Political ad tracker Kantar Media CMAG earlier this year estimated that ad spending on the mid-term races would top $2.5 billion, up from the estimated $2.4 billion spent in 2010.

While the money is up a bit from the last mid-term cycle KMCMAG is also teaming with ad agencies in new ways to help shops with candidates better target prospective voters with their advertising.

Last week for example, the firm, part of WPP, entered into a partnership with Targeted Victory, the Alexandria, VA-based ad shop that specializes in political candidates.

Under the terms of the deal, the agency will combine media tracking data from KMCMAG with census based television data and its own voter data segments to better understand which voters have seen opposition advertisements and then counter with quick responses.

“It has become increasingly important to diversify ad placement across multiple mediums and channels,” said Michael Beach, a co-founder of Targeted Victory. “Combining CMAG and audience data with Targeted Victory’s advertising platforms offers campaigns faster, cheaper and more precise methods to engage and influence persuadable voters online.”

Seems it’s not just marketers demanding better precision and ROI from the ad dollars they put behind products. Politicos want to know how efficient their spending is too—a lesson learned too late for outgoing Virginia Congressman and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. 

Maybe if he and his team had been a little more focused on the ads his constituency was being exposed to and a little less on how they wanted their steak cooked, he’d still be in the race for his congressional seat heading into the fall.