Strong political TV/streaming advertising will continue next year for the
2026 mid-term elections, rising to a projected new record total of $10.8 billion, according to AdImpact.
This would be up 22% from the 2022 midterms ($8.9 billion) and a 4% decline from last
year’s Presidential-focused political ad season estimated at $11.2 billion.
For next year, AdImpact sees broadcast TV still taking a dominant 49% share of political spend -- $5.28
billion (down slightly from $5.36 billion in the 2024 political year)
All media platforms are expected to be down versus 2024 -- except connected TV, which is projected to climb to $2.48
billion from $2.34 billion.
Digital media will slip to $1.43 billion (from $1.7 billion), with cable TV down to $1.29 billion (from $1.37 billion), radio dipping to $280 million (from $330
million) and satellite dropping to $80 million (from $90 million).
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Spending on U.S. Senate campaigns in 2026 will rise slightly versus 2024 to $2.8 billion. The widely watched U.S. House of
Representatives races will climb 27% to $2.2 billion -- the first time those races will top the $2 billion mark.
Even so-called "off-year" political spending is improving. Through August 26,
2025 -- season-to-date -- AdImpact tracking for political ads is now 38% higher ($900 million) versus $657 million in 2023. It is also 58% higher than 2021’s $572 million.
Research comes
from AdImpact's monitoring of more than 24,000 elections, 33 million ad airings, and $41 billion in overall political ad spending.