This edition's trivia: Which advertiser has spent the most in December (all-time)?
— 2026 Races With Early Spending
There is no such thing as an off-year anymore. Six 2026 races have already seen $10M or more in spending this year, which is the highest number of races to do so in an off-year. Five Senate races and one gubernatorial race make up the list, with Texas Senate taking the top spot by a significant margin.
Linear spending picked up significantly early in Senate races across Georgia, Texas, and Maine. Even with primaries over a year away, advertisers wanted to get on the airwaves early and often. Of the first wave of linear spending in March and April, 98% came from Republican advertisers. Georgia & Maine saw spending around the incumbents, while Texas saw spending supporting Wesley Hunt, who hadn't yet officially announced his Senate campaign. Other races that saw significant spending this year include Kentucky Senate, Illinois Senate, and California Governor.
Texas and Kentucky Senate have predominantly Republican activity for the upcoming primaries. In contrast, Illinois Senate and California Governor exhibit only Democratic spending in their open primaries. Tom Steyer quickly poured in $16.0M into California, and Raja Krishnamoorthi has spent $14.4M in Illinois. Georgia and Maine, the two races with significant spending that are rated as Toss-up by Cook Political Report, have seen a more competitive split. Republicans have a $2.6M spending advantage in Georgia and a $2.8M spending advantage in Maine.
— Looking Back on 2025
2025 shattered records for off-year spending: it saw $1.83B, more than every other off-year on record. Even without a Presidential primary, there was $418M more spending this year compared to 2023.
Prior to this year, only Presidential primaries had seen over $100M in off-year spending, but this year, New Jersey Governor ($207M) and California Prop 50 ($142M) cleared that mark. Wisconsin Supreme Court broke records for state supreme court ad spending earlier in the year, netting $85.6M. While Virginia Governor ($84.5M) and New York City Mayor ($65.4M) didn't shatter any records, they had similar spending totals to their 2021 races. Finally, Texas Senate's $57.6M in an off-year is the most a non-Presidental on-year race has ever seen. There was $651M in issue-related spending, which matches 2022's $652M and is well above 2024's $408M.
In terms of the media type landscape for the off-year, broadcast spending continues to yield ground to CTV. Broadcast spending represented just 29% of the landscape in 2025, down from 40% in 2023. CTV, on the other hand, surged from 16% to 26%. Cable only fell by 3% to 18% overall. Digital spending was at 24%, up 5% from 2023. Digital spending is traditionally high in off-years as candidates fundraise ahead of an election year.
The media type share will change significantly once the election year kicks off, as race dynamics shift media strategy. Our 2026 projections, which cover the 2025-2026 cycle in total, have broadcast's share at 49%, CTV at 23%, cable at 12%, and digital at 13%.
— Everything Else Happening Across the Country
The Last 2025 Elections: December 9th saw two of the year's last big elections: mayoral runoffs in Albuquerque and Miami. Albuquerque's runoff saw incumbent Tim Keller hold his seat. The election had $645K in spending, with Keller outspending Darren White by $128K. In Miami, Eileen Higgins became the first Democrat to become mayor in almost 30 years. She outspent Emilio Gonzalez, $161K to $75K.
Florida Governor Activity: The open primary for Florida governor has led to some early action, with the group Florida Fighters spending $4.9M since November 15th in support of current Lt. Governor Jay Collins. No other candidate has more than $200K in ad support.
Georgia Governor Picks Up: Like Florida, Georgia will have an open gubernatorial race after a term-limited governor. The race had been quiet until late November, when Georgians for Integrity placed $5.1M running through February. The group's ads attack current Lt. Governor Burt Jones.
— Written by AdImpact
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