Ad industry tracker AdImpact predicts $11.6bn in ad spending this cycle, surpassing the $11.2bn spent in the 2024 presidential election. OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan research group tracking money in politics, pegs total spending in the midterms as on track to reach $11.9bn.
The top 40 donors are giving more than ever before: $2.4bn by mid-October, seven times the amount the top 40 in 2014 gave, adjusted for inflation, according to a new analysis from the nonpartisan, pro-campaign finance reform institute the Brennan Center for Justice.
But the significant difference since then is that those top donors now give more to Republicans, and by a larger differential. In 2014, the top 40 gave to Democrats two to one, but this year the top 40 gave to Republicans three to one over Democrats.
Some Democrats have changed minds with their anti-trans ads. Not republican minds though, more like anti-ads for Democrats.