Campaigns and groups have spent more than $137m on 220 AI-generated ads in the 2026 midterms, the Wesleyan Media Project counts
81% of the ads were sponsored by Republican candidates or groups, they have run in 34 states, and only 27% carry a disclaimer. In 2024 the project found less than $50,000.
The Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political advertising using AdImpact data, said on 15 October: “We now count 220 such ads in our database on which more than $137 million has been spent.” It calls the total almost certainly an undercount, because AI use is hard to detect and its coders leave out ads they are unsure of.
The release says 81% of the AI-generated ads were sponsored by Republican candidates or groups and 12% by Democratic ones. “Republican-affiliated sponsors also account for 88 percent of the spending on these ads.” The ads have run in 34 states. “Twenty-seven percent of them contain a disclaimer.”
The jump is steep. Erika Franklin Fowler, the project's co-director, said Wesleyan found less than $50,000 of spending on AI-generated ads in the whole 2024 cycle. “AI is making its way into the 2026 midterms in a big way this year,” she said.
The release gives no start date for the count; it reads as the cycle so far. The general election is on 3 November, so the count will keep growing.
- Confirmed The Wesleyan Media Project counts 220 AI-generated ads with more than $137m spent on them. Wesleyan Media Project
- Confirmed Republican-affiliated sponsors account for 88% of the spending; the ads ran in 34 states and 27% carry a disclaimer. Wesleyan Media Project
- Confirmed The project found less than $50,000 of spending on AI-generated ads in the 2024 cycle. Wesleyan Media Project
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Catching up in the October 20, 2026 edition · front page