Billions of dollars—$11 billion according to AdImpact—were spent in elections that returned Donald Trump to the White House and gave Republicans majorities in the Senate and House.

Among governors, Republicans’ 27-23 lead over Democrats is unchanged; we await outcomes in Virginia and New Jersey in November 2025 that might provide a first look at how the new administration is being perceived.

There wasn’t much joy for Democrats. President-elect Trump increased his vote total from 2020 in every state. Democrats hung on to Senate seats in Wisconsin and Michigan, and with a narrow Republican majority, the House of Representatives will again be a difficult governing chore for Speaker Mike Johnson. 

Spending in the presidential race totaled approximately $2.2 billion for local broadcast, local cable, radio, satellite, Spanish language TV and CTV, according to MediaRadar/CMAG’s Competitive Navigator The leading spenders were both Democratic advertisers: the Harris campaign ($400 million) and FF PAC (approximately $350 million). 

AdImpact—which covers all races—estimates presidential campaign spending at more than $3 billion, with Democrats outspending Republicans by more than $100 million ($381 million vs. $267 million) on CTV. AdImpact also shows a higher digital number owing to the popularity of YouTube in this cycle. 

MediaRadar excludes some state legislative and local races, so its estimates are lower.

While growth in CTV spending is the story of the presidential race, both parties spent substantial amounts on broadcast TV in the presidential race. Republicans topped Democrats by approximately $100 million in local broadcast spending, according to MediaRadar.

Given Pennsylvania’s importance in the presidential race, it’s no surprise that Philadelphia was the leading market for broadcast spending, totaling more than $175 million.

Pittsburgh finished fifth with nearly $107 million. Other top markets for local broadcast were Atlanta ($145 million), Detroit ($125 million) and Phoenix ($111 million). Both parties made good use of network sports in the waning days of the campaign.

In nine Senate races—Ohio, Pennsylvania, Montana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Maryland, Texas, and Arizona—spending exceeded $100 million. Ohio, bolstered by an expensive Republican primary, totaled more than $400 million, and spending in Pennsylvania approached $300 million. Those of us who thought the nearly $160 million spent in Montana in 2020 would be hard to top saw spending in the Jon Tester-Tim Sheehy battle go well over $200 million. Montana media owners were thrilled.

The biggest surprise came in Maryland, where spending was boosted in the Democratic primary race for the U.S. Senate. Rep. David Trone spent $60 million of his own money but was defeated by now Senator-elect Angela Alsobrooks, who will become the first Black female senator in Maryland history.

The race gathered national attention when Republican Larry Hogan, a popular former governor, got into the race. Democrats successfully reminded voters that putting Hogan in the Senate could lead to Republican control of the body. The Maryland race got outside involvement from a few SuperPACs, and that helped drive total spending to more than $125 million. 

The closeness of the presidential contest in Michigan seemed to spill over into the Senate race between Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin and former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers. Few thought that the contest to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow would be so difficult for Democrats, but Republicans put up a huge fight. The outcome went back and forth before Slotkin was declared the winner. Nearly $200 million was spent reaching Michigan voters.

The largest spenders in the battle for control of the Senate were the SuperPACs aligned with the body’s two leaders, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer and Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Schumer’s WinSenate/Senate Majority PAC accounted for nearly $300 million in spending while McConnell’s Senate Leadership Fund put just over $200 million into key races for Republicans.

The largest spend by a Senate candidate belonged to Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown. His campaign spent over $50 million in an unsuccessful reelection bid. (It’s rumored that Brown might look to run again in 2026 for the seat currently held by incoming VP JD Vance.)

Dems might have been too clever by half in Ohio as they ran ads during the Republican primary “backing” hard-line conservative Bernie Moreno, who they thought could be easily defeated. He won the primary and was elected to the Senate. Be careful what you wish for. 

Republicans retained their House majority, but the margin is small. Democrats outspent their opponents by more than $100 million but couldn’t take advantage by flipping House control. There weren’t many contested races this cycle but the ones that were saw strong spending.

The top House contest was in New York’s 19th District, where Democrat Josh Riley defeated incumbent Marc Molinaro. Spending topped $40 million with Albany and Binghamton receiving the lion’s share. This was one of a few New York House seats that went red during 2022 that was flipped back to blue.

North Carolina Democratic Rep. Don Davis narrowly defeated Republican opponent Laurie Buckhout. The race saw nearly $40 million in spending, going mostly to the Raleigh market with some dollars spilling across the state line into Norfolk, Virginia.

In Michigan’s 7th District, Republican Tom Barrett beat Democrat Curtis Hertel in a race where spending approached $40 million, split evenly between Detroit and Lansing. Democrats returned the favor in Oregon when Janelle Bynum defeated Republican incumbent Lori Chavez-DeRemer to become Oregon’s first Black member of Congress. More than $35 million was spent in the race.

We once marveled at House races where spending topped $20 million. In 2024, there were more than 30 races where at least $20 million was spent, and the slim victory margins likely mean even stronger spending in the coming midterms. 

As to the media split this time around, a few trends emerged. For CTV spending, sellers brought more inventory to the marketplace, and buyers eagerly purchased it. Broadcast held its own at both the local and network levels. Cable and satellite saw declines, and that’s not a surprise, given the dynamics of those platforms.

Social media didn’t have a great cycle. Google did well with YouTube on the CTV side, and it remains a must-have for both fundraising and persuasion. Radio owners will remain frustrated at their inability to convince political buyers to make it a significant part of their media plans. AdImpact shows it is somewhat flat to 2020. Will digital audio eventually become a winner in this space?  

It has been my pleasure guiding you through the political advertising jungle this year and I trust you’ve found these updates to your liking. Thanks again to the Ad Age team and both MediaRadar and AdImpact for their assistance with the numbers. Until next time!