The 2026 midterm elections are a week away, and candidates and their allies are making their final arguments to voters. Four campaign ads from different Senate races backed by the most money over the past week, according to AdImpact data, show what those messages look like. The biggest-money ad comes from Texas PAC, a super PAC formed specifically for the successful U.S. Senate race in the Lone Star State, and funded with more than $150 million tied to tech billionaire Elon Musk. Backed by nearly $20 million in the last week alone, it takes advantage of James Talarico’s recent flu-induced absence from the campaign trail to tell voters, via a sheriff’s warning, that the Democratic candidate “has been absent when it comes to public safety and his liberal criminal agenda; it will make it harder for us to protect you.” The second is an ad from WinSenate, the leading Democratic super PAC focused on Senate races, backed by about $5.7 million over the past week in Ohio. The ad implicates corrupt dealings between Republican Sen. Jon Husted and an energy company, although Husted was not charged with a crime. Anti-corruption messaging has become a key issue in this year’s midterm elections. In third place is another WinSenate ad in Iowa, which spent $3.7 million airing over the past week. He criticizes Republican candidate Rep. Ashley Hinson for supporting the Trump administration. “Hinson voted seven times for war and now gas is through the roof. He voted five times for tariffs. Now Iowa farms are going under,” the ad says. The fourth is an ad from a GOP outside group, the Great Lakes Conservatives Fund, aimed at Michigan’s heated Senate race. Also backed by $3.7 million over the past week, he criticizes Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate, for alleged associations with the Muslim Brotherhood. “El Sayed, we simply cannot trust him,” the ad ends.
