Political Spigot Keeps Pouring Ad Dollars, Even In An ‘Off’ Year.

Anyone in earshot of Wisconsin or New Jersey can hear proof that the election season is never really over. Listeners in both states are already hearing plenty of political ads ahead of pivotal statewide races. The ad tracking team at AdImpact reports those contests have helped push political spending to $168 million so far in the 2025-2026 election cycle, up 39% during the past two weeks.

Its review of all of the ad buys placed shows broadcast TV has the biggest portion of the dollars so far at $45 million, followed by cable TV at $39 million. They are followed by CTV ($35 million), digital ($41 million), radio ($7.5 million) and satellite TV ($819,000).

The biggest dollar amount is attributed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, where an April 1 election will decide the political leaning of the court. AdImpact says $40 million has been spent in the race so far. Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel are running for a 10-year term to succeed retiring Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. The race is officially nonpartisan, but the state’s Democratic Party has endorsed Crawford and Republicans are backing Schimel, a former Wisconsin attorney general. AdImpact says pro-Crawford ads total $18.8 million, while pro-Schimel ads total $14.3 million.

New Jersey is where the second-biggest total of political ad dollars have been spent. AdImpact says $23 million worth of ads have been spent in the battle to succeed New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who is being term-limited out of office. AdImpact says the group Affordable New Jersey has spent $8.2 million, the most of anyone, with ads backing Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ).

While that has meant the New York media market has received more ad dollars than any other metro area at $20.8 million, followed by Milwaukee at $13.7 million, plenty of it is also being directed toward lawmakers and policy-makers in Washington. That is where a reported $16.8 million of ad money has been spent.

AdImpact says plenty of the money it has seen spent is looking far ahead on the calendar. Of the $168 million spent, it says about $79 million is allocated to 2025 race and about $89 million is allocated to 2026 races. That includes $785,000 of ads that have already been booked in an attempt to defeat incumbent Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), who narrowly won re-election last November.