THE ALASKA STORY
Sept. 21, 2026 – Alaskans who think they have already seen enough political advertising should brace themselves: The final weeks of the 2026 campaign are expected to bring an even greater barrage.
A new AdImpact analysis of competitive U.S. Senate races shows approximately $46.2 million in television advertising already aired or reserved in Alaska’s Senate contest, with the bulk of the remaining inventory favoring Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
As of Sept. 11, Republican campaigns and allied groups had aired approximately $10.9 million in Alaska advertising and reserved another $23.1 million, according to the tracking firm. Democratic campaigns and groups had aired about $5.2 million and reserved an additional $7 million.
That puts the Republican side at roughly $34 million in aired and reserved advertising, compared with about $12.2 million on the Democratic side. Of the advertising still scheduled to run, Republican reservations outnumber Democratic reservations by more than three to one.
The figures cover party advertising in the Alaska Senate race and should not be interpreted as spending exclusively by Sullivan or Democrat Mary Peltola. They include candidate committees and independent organizations, including super PACs that are legally prohibited from coordinating their advertising with the campaigns.
They also do not capture every political message reaching Alaskans. Digital advertising, streaming platforms, radio, direct mail, text messages and some other forms of campaign communication can fall outside the totals for traditional linear television.
The Alaska spending is only one small part of a national political advertising explosion. AdImpact tracked more than $70 million in new television reservations targeting competitive Senate races during the past week alone. Across the battleground states shown in the firm’s analysis, hundreds of millions of dollars have already been aired or placed in future reservations.
AdImpact has projected that political advertising during the 2026 midterm cycle will reach a record $11.6 billion nationally, exceeding both the 2022 midterm total and the spending recorded during the 2024 presidential cycle. Competitive Senate races are among the primary drivers of that growth.
Alaska is inexpensive compared with states such as Ohio, Maine and North Carolina because its population and television markets are much smaller. But tens of millions of dollars concentrated on a relatively small viewing audience can produce an especially intense saturation effect.
Peltola entered the Senate race in January and quickly assembled a large campaign account, raising $8.9 million during the first quarter and another $7 million during the second quarter. By the end of July, she had raised more than $18 million, while Sullivan had raised nearly $12 million, according to reports based on federal campaign filings.
Peltola’s committee has spent millions of dollars on media and digital outreach reaching Alaska voters. The spending began with buys in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and grew to more than $2 million during spring and early-summer reporting periods, followed by additional advertising later in the campaign.
Democratic organizations also moved early. Senate Majority PAC, a national super PAC aligned with Democrats, announced in May that it was reserving $10 million in Alaska television time to support Peltola and oppose Sullivan. Advertising reservations are not binding and can be changed or canceled, but the announcement showed that national Democrats intended to make a major investment in the race.
Republican groups have since increased their presence. Sullivan’s campaign, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and allied organizations are now substantially outspending the Democratic side in the television inventory tracked by AdImpact, particularly in reservations for the closing weeks.
A precise, real-time figure for advertising aired only in Alaska on Peltola’s behalf is not publicly available. Federal Election Commission reports generally lag behind current spending, and outside organizations can revise their reservations as campaign strategy changes. Later FEC filings and updated reports from advertising-tracking services will provide a more complete accounting.
Alaska’s small media market has, however, become a major national Senate battleground. With control of the Senate in play and Election Day approaching, voters can expect the volume and repetition, and then rinse and repeat, of political advertising to increase sharply before Nov. 3.
