PACs, campaigns spent $3 billion on ads. What were the most misleading messages to voters?

PolitiFact · November 3, 2026

Like most Michiganders, Oakland University professor David Dulio has been inundated with ads in the last few weeks.

“It is just everywhere,” he said, “and everyone is sick and tired of it.”

By Oct. 25, the amount of money spent on TV, digital and radio ads in the state’s U.S. Senate race had reached $311 million, according to AdImpact data analyzed by the Wesleyan Media Project, a Wesleyan University research program that tracks political ad spending. A more recent AdImpact analysis pegged spending in the race at $372 million, making it the sixth-most expensive non-presidential contest in U.S. history.

But it was still only the third-priciest U.S. Senate race this election cycle, according to Wesleyan Media Project’s numbers. Spending in Texas and Ohio beat out the contest between Democratic public health official Abdul El-Sayed and Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan.

Across the country, political candidates and outside groups spent more than $7 billion in midterm advertising by Oct. 25, with $2.9 billion going toward U.S. Senate campaigns alone. Most of that money — nearly $2 billion — has come from outside groups. Super PACs like the Republican Senate Leadership Fund and Democratic Senate Majority PAC can raise and spend unlimited sums to influence elections.

That spending reaches voters through ads on TV, streaming services and digital platforms with misleading and, at times, outlandish claims. PolitiFact has fact-checked ads this year about transgender youth policy, healthcare, immigration and Jeffrey Epstein.

Democrats have focused their ads on the cost of living, Medicaid cuts, expiring healthcare subsidies, and corruption. Republican ads generally concentrated on taxes, anti-transgender talking points, and crime.

Here’s a rundown of how we’ve sorted the facts from the falsehoods in the most expensive Senate races.

With combined ad spending at $573 million, the Texas U.S. Senate race has become the most expensive non-presidential contest in history, AdImpact reported .

Texas’ numbers are the clearest example of a trend playing out across Senate races this year: Democratic campaigns are spending more directly on ads because of a major fundraising advantage, while Republicans are being helped more by spending from outside groups.

From Sept. 8 to Oct. 25, Democratic state Rep. James Talarico spent $54 million on ads while state Attorney General Ken Paxton spent about $4 million. But outside groups spent $226 million on the race in that period, and that money is overwhelmingly pro-Paxton, according to AdImpact.

When it comes to fundraising, especially in Texas and Georgia, Democratic candidates “just beat the pants off their Republican challengers,” said Robin Kolodny, a Temple University political science professor. “The Republicans have no choice but to go outside.”

Talarico’s ads have painted Paxton as corrupt, highlighting legal and political scandals, including his impeachment by the Republican-led Texas House . Paxton was acquitted by the Republican-led state Senate.

Some ads have focused on claims that Paxton gave a light sentence to a man convicted of child abuse. PolitiFact rated this Mostly True after Talarico said it in an interview. But a claim from another ad accusing Paxton of siding with puppy abusers was more bark than bite, earning a Mostly False rating.

Pro-Paxton ads tended to focus on cultural issues, portraying Talarico as too “woke” for Texas.

Several misleading spots tied Talarico to transgender issues, including an ad that falsely said he “supported using taxpayer dollars for sex change surgeries on young children.” Some ads used artificial intelligence to portray Talarico doing and saying things he never did.

Another distorted a quote from Talarico in which he said the southern border should have “a giant welcome mat out front.” The ad cut the quote mid-sentence, omitting that Talarico next said: “and a lock on the door.”

It’s an example of how so many of these ads spin real votes or quotes into something more sensational, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political science professor.

Ohio’s Senate race had $448 million in ad spending as of Oct. 25.

Between Sept. 8 and Oct. 25, Democratic former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown spent $25 million on advertising, while Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Husted spent about $5 million. Outside groups spent $245 million on both sides.

!function(e,n,i,s){var d="InfogramEmbeds";var o=e.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];if(window[d]&&window[d].initialized)window[d].process&&window[d].process();else if(!e.getElementById(i)){var r=e.createElement(n);r.async=1,r.id=i,r.src=s,o.parentNode.insertBefore(r,o)}}(document,"script","infogram-async","https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js"); Brown’s campaign and allied groups have run ads tying Husted to affordability concerns, accusing him of kicking people off of their health insurance and bringing data centers into the state.

We rated an ad saying Husted voted for 490,000 Ohioans to lose their healthcare as Half True .

Another ad saying Husted pushed for billions in tax breaks to attract data centers to Ohio was Mostly True .

Ads targeting Brown have focused heavily on transgender issues. One said Brown supports “sex change surgeries for minors,” which is Pants on Fire . It featured a woman who identified as transgender as a teenager and received a double mastectomy in Texas at age 19.

Between Sept. 8 and Oct. 25, El-Sayed spent $21 million on ads and Rogers spent $5 million. Outside groups spent $125 million in the same period.

“The main messages in the Senate race boil down to: Abdul El-Sayed has tried to make Mike Rogers into Donald Trump, and Mike Rogers has tried to make Abdul El-Sayed unacceptable,” he said.

Outside Republican groups have run ads arguing El-Sayed, a former health official, is funded by or aligned with extremist groups. One recent Senate Leadership Fund ad said El-Sayed wants to introduce shariah — or Islamic law — to the government, a claim we’ve rated Pants on Fire!

Another Rogers ad said El-Sayed supported defunding the police and emptying prisons. The ad referred to past positions, but Rogers’ posts said he “supports” those positions now, which is Mostly False .

Meanwhile, El-Sayed and Democratic groups have run ads tying Rogers to Trump and scrutinizing his economic record. His ads blame Rogers for high pharmaceutical costs and say he made millions after leaving Congress by advising large corporations .

After sexual assault allegations sunk Democrat Graham Platner’s candidacy in Maine, an ad said his replacement, former state Senate President Troy Jackson, also had a problematic record with women.

As a narrator said Jackson had a history of conflicts with women, the words “hitting female colleague” appeared on screen. That was False: There are accounts of Jackson throwing a plastic water bottle while arguing with a female colleague, but neither he nor the bottle hit her.

The race between Jackson and five-term Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins had drawn $250 million in advertising spending by Oct. 25. Between Sept. 8 and Oct. 25, Jackson spent $14 million while Collins spent about $4 million. Outside groups spent $84 million.

Democratic ads in Maine have focused on Collins’ votes on healthcare costs and supporting Trump’s agenda. One said Collins was the “deciding vote” on Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill that cut Medicaid, but we rated that claim Mostly False . Collins voted to advance the bill, but opposed its final passage.

The Iowa Senate contest between Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson and Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek has drawn $212 million in ad spending.

Between Sept. 8 and Oct. 25, Turek had spent $14 million compared with Hinson’s $7 million. Outside groups spent $106 million.

!function(e,n,i,s){var d="InfogramEmbeds";var o=e.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];if(window[d]&&window[d].initialized)window[d].process&&window[d].process();else if(!e.getElementById(i)){var r=e.createElement(n);r.async=1,r.id=i,r.src=s,o.parentNode.insertBefore(r,o)}}(document,"script","infogram-async","https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js"); Turek and Democrats have run several ads accusing Hinson of profiting off her office and getting rich after joining the House. But they left out that Hinson’s assets are largely tied up in the sale of her husband’s insurance business, and they present misleading accounting of financial disclosures.

A Democratic group also said Hinson voted to block the Epstein files’ release — a narrative that emerged in many prominent races. That’s Mostly False ; she voted for the bill when it came to the floor though she helped block previous versions from coming up for a vote.

Ads against Turek have focused on his attendance record in the Iowa House, immigration and transgender issues.

After Turek won the Democratic primary in June, Hinson released an ad that said Turek supports “sex changes for kids.” That’s False .

It’s True that Turek missed 58% of the votes in the Iowa House this year while he was campaigning. A Senate Leadership Fund ad that said he supports amnesty is Half True .

RELATED : All of our 2026 midterm fact-checks

Источник: PolitiFact