The 2026 midterm elections have become the most expensive election cycle in U.S. history when it comes to political advertising, surpassing even the 2024 presidential election.

With Election Day less than a week away, an estimated $11. 21 billion has been spent or reserved for political advertisements, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

That's slightly more than the $11. 2 billion spent during the entire 2024 election cycle and roughly $2. 3 billion more than the 2022 midterms."It's not just that a lot of money is being spent, it's that it's very expensive to advertise this late in the campaign," said Todd Belt, a political management professor at George Washington University.