Political Ad Reservations Top $1 Billion For 2026 Midterms.

Political advertising is accelerating heading into the late-summer primary season, with campaigns, parties and outside groups now committing $1.2 billion in future media reservations across 209 federal and state races, according to Kinetiq Political Insights (KPI) data. Its latest update of political advertising activity paints a picture of where there isn’t one party dominating.

Instead, the numbers show a much more nuanced landscape where Democrats overwhelm Republicans in some contests, while Republicans dominate others — and several marquee general election races remain relatively balanced. That reflects the patchwork nature of the 2026 campaign as competitive primaries, Senate races, gubernatorial contests and ballot initiatives all compete for airtime simultaneously.

Ohio remains the biggest political advertising state in the country, with more than $201 million in forward bookings. California, North Carolina, Maine and Michigan round out the top five. During the seven days leading up to the report, campaigns and outside groups placed $36.9 million in new television advertising reservations, signaling that the advertising pace continues to build ahead of November.

The report also shows just how concentrated the buying has become. Cleveland ranks as the nation's busiest television market with $7.8 million in political spending, followed by Detroit ($6.5 million), Kansas City ($5.1 million), Grand Rapids ($3.6 million), Nashville ($3.5 million), Miami ($3.4 million), Lansing ($3.0 million) and Milwaukee ($2.9 million).

With Michigan set to hold its primary today (Aug. 4), the state has become the center of the political universe in recent days. And KPI says no state illustrates the intensity of the current cycle better than Michigan, where multiple statewide and congressional races are driving extraordinary advertising levels.

KPI projects Michigan will exceed $1 billion in political advertising this cycle, compared with roughly $67 million in 2022. In fact, it says Michigan alone could spend more than the entire U.S. political advertising market did during the 2006 midterms.

The Democratic Senate primary has become the week's largest advertising battlefield. KPI says AIPAC-backed United Democracy Project is the single largest advertiser in the race, spending $3.9 million in the seven days leading up to the report with ads opposing Abdul El-Sayed. The progressive candidate has reshaped his own advertising to answer those attacks, while fellow Democrat Haley Stevens and allied groups continued promoting middle-class and economic messages.

Overall, Democratic-aligned advertisers are outspending Republicans by more than five-to-one, making the race one of the most one-sided advertising environments in the country despite being highly competitive politically.

Michigan's Republican gubernatorial primary tells a very different story. Republican businessman Perry Johnson has emerged as the dominant advertiser, outspending rival John James by better than six-to-one. No Democratic advertising is currently airing in the race.

While candidate races dominate the airwaves, KPI s reports issue advocacy continues to account for a relatively modest share of weekly advertising at this point in the cycle. Food and agriculture groups lead issue spending at about $1.3 million, followed by healthcare, justice reform and technology/AI campaigns.

YouTube Spending Rises

The latest numbers reveal television is still king with political ad buyers — but YouTube has become part of every campaign. For nearly every featured race, KPI pairs broadcast television data with estimated YouTube spending, audience targeting, ZIP code analysis and demographic segmentation. The report estimates millions of dollars in YouTube political advertising running alongside traditional television campaigns, illustrating how campaigns increasingly build integrated cross-platform media strategies instead of treating digital video as a separate effort.

That trend aligns with KPI’s broader forecast that the 2026 midterms will become the most expensive non-presidential election cycle in U.S. history, with ad spending projected to reach $10.4 billion — just 8% below the 2024 presidential election cycle. Radio is forecast to generate about $300 million, or 2.4% of total spend.

Download a copy of the forecast HERE.