Releases

(MIDDLETOWN, CT) August 13, 2026 – Ads supporting Republicans and Democrats running for Senate this year have converged on the top issues: immigration and policing. According to a new analysis from the Wesleyan Media Project of all issues mentioned in local broadcast campaign ads in the cycle-to-date through August 2, thirty-one percent of ad airings sponsored by Democratic candidates, Democratic-affiliated groups or the Democratic party in Senate races mention the issue of policing and 29 percent mention immigration (Table 1).  In the Senate on the Republican side, the top issues are immigration, which is mentioned in 38 percent of airings,…

Cycle-to-date Total Approaches $2 Billion(MIDDLETOWN, CT) May 28, 2026 - Ad spending in congressional and gubernatorial campaigns over the past two weeks topped $210 million, elevating spending this cycle in those races to just under $2 billion. Moreover, in a new line of analysis, the Wesleyan Media Project (WMP) has identified at least $19.7 million in spending on ads that are known to be generated or enhanced through the use of AI tools during the current election cycle, which is surely an undercount. To identify these ads, the WMP followed mentions of AI-generated ads in news media, searched for ads…

Nearly 30 percent of ad spending to-date is via streaming(MIDDLETOWN, CT) May 14, 2026 – Spending on campaign advertising in the 2025-2026 midterm election cycle in House, Senate and gubernatorial races has totaled $700 million in just the past two months, thanks, in part, to some extremely competitive primary campaigns (Table 1).  The totals for cycle-to-date spending (as of May 10th) are $1.7 billion. (For comparison, this total is more than double the spending over the same period in 2023-2024 though the specific gubernatorial and congressional races included in both years were different). Groups account for more than 60 percent…

Groups account for over 60 percent of spending(MIDDLETOWN, CT) March 5, 2026 – Spending on political advertising in the 2026 races for U.S. House and U.S. Senate has reached $565 million cycle-to-date, ahead of the first round of party primaries this week. The total – which includes spending from January 1, 2025, through March 1, 2026 – has been boosted by high levels of spending from groups, which have accounted for over 60 percent of total ad spending in both the Senate and the House. Table 1 shows ad spending in the 2025-26 election cycle, with spending broken down across…