Political advertising spending accelerated sharply in August as campaigns, political committees and issue advertisers moved into the final two months of the 2026 midterm election cycle.
According to new data from AdImpact, $796.5 million in political advertising aired during August, a 63 percent increase from July and 47 percent above August 2022. Republican advertisers accounted for $435.2 million of the monthly total, compared with $304.3 million from Democratic advertisers. Another $56.9 million came from advertisers without a clear party affiliation.
One Nation was the largest advertiser during the month, spending $51.8 million. Ohio led all states with $102.1 million in political ad spending, followed by Georgia at $61.6 million and Florida at $58.7 million.
Atlanta was the busiest advertising market, with $34 million in spending during August. Cleveland followed with $28 million, while Portland, Maine drew $22.7 million.
Broadcast television continued to carry a heavy share of political advertising activity. AdImpact said broadcast stations aired 567,000 political ads during August, up 42 percent from July and 16 percent from August 2022.
Taxation, healthcare and President Donald Trump were the most frequently mentioned subjects in political advertising during the month. August was the first month this year in which Trump was not the most-mentioned issue in political ads, according to the data.
Total political ad spending for the 2026 cycle has reached $5.75 billion, 37 percent above the comparable point in the 2022 midterm cycle and 22 percent ahead of the 2024 presidential cycle. When factoring in other forms of media, political ad spending has eclipsed $6 billion, according to earlier data.
Another $1.5 billion has been reserved through Election Day, with Congressional contests accounting for nearly three-quarters of that commitment. The Ohio Senate race leads with $154.5 million reserved, followed by North Carolina’s Senate race at $104.5 million. California Proposition 40 has $88.9 million reserved, while Senate contests in Maine and Iowa each have $74.5 million booked.
Detroit leads future market reservations with $73.2 million, followed by Cleveland at $66.2 million, Portland, Maine at $66 million, Atlanta at $65 million and Cincinnati at $52.4 million. Ohio has $244.3 million reserved statewide.
Republican advertisers hold $713.7 million in future reservations, compared with $620.1 million for Democrats. Advertisers without a clear party affiliation have booked $148.6 million, including more than $114 million targeting three California ballot propositions.
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