Senators spend $15 million on national fundraising ads

Candidates in four competitive U.S. Senate races spent over $15 million on out-of-state fundraising ads during the 2025-26 cycle. An analysis of Google Ads data by NPR found that about three-quarters of this spending went to advertisements aired nationally rather than locally.

The four states examined were Iowa, Georgia, Ohio, and Texas. In each of these races, a majority of campaign funds originated from outside the state. For specific candidates like Iowa Democratic nominee Josh Turek and Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, more than 80 percent of their itemized individual contributions came from donors living in other states.

Zachary Albert, a politics professor at Brandeis University, noted that platforms like ActBlue and WinRed lower the cost of soliciting small donations. This reduction in transaction costs makes it profitable to chase five or ten dollar gifts from a national audience.

Campaign messaging often differs between local voters and national donors. Wesleyan Media Project's Michael Franz explained that local ads rarely use party labels to appeal to moderates. However, digital ads aimed at out-of-state audiences frequently emphasize partisan identity to drive urgency among existing supporters.

Former Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown runs ads calling to turn his state blue, while Georgia Representative Mike Collins asks donors to help make his state's seat red. In Iowa, Republican Representative Ashley Hinson highlights her America First credentials in national solicitations.

Daniel Hopkins, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, described a dual-stakeholder dynamic. Candidates compete locally for votes against opposing party candidates, but they compete nationally for money against other prominent figures in their own party.

Out-of-state funds have risen in every recent election cycle according to OpenSecrets. Democrats built a grassroots infrastructure earlier with ActBlue, which launched in 2004. Republicans followed with WinRed in 2019, capitalizing on a national base of small-dollar donors activated during the Trump era.

The Ossoff campaign stated that it does not target audiences by location and relies on small-dollar donors who reject corporate PACs and federal lobbyists. Other campaigns in the reviewed states declined to comment or did not respond to requests. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has already spent three times as much on advertisements in this cycle compared to the previous midterms.