Senate campaigns spend big on ads aimed at donors in other states

Candidates in competitive U.S. Senate races are buying digital ads that run far from home, pitching national themes to raise money from donors who will never see them on a local ballot. An NPR review of Google Ads found Democratic and Republican candidates spent more than $15 million on fundraising ads in the 2025-26 election cycle across four races: Iowa, Georgia, Ohio and Texas. About three quarters of that money paid for ads that ran nationally.

The ads carry a different message than what candidates say close to home. Former Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, running to regain his seat, tells out-of-state audiences to turn Ohio blue. Georgia Republican Rep. Mike Collins asks for help turning his state's Senate seat red. Iowa Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson promotes her "America First" credentials, while Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff attacks President Trump directly.

The shift tracks with where the money comes from. More than 80% of itemized individual contributions to Ossoff and Iowa Democratic nominee Josh Turek came from outside their states, according to the analysis. ActBlue and WinRed, the two main grassroots fundraising platforms, make small contributions cheap to collect. ActBlue launched in 2004; WinRed followed in 2019.

"ActBlue and WinRed really reduced the transaction costs for contributing," said Zachary Albert, a professor of politics at Brandeis University. "Even if you're only yielding like a $5 or $10 contribution from someone like the costs of soliciting that are so much lower than they used to be, that it makes it worthwhile."

Party labels travel better than local detail. Wesleyan Media Project's Michael Franz said broadcast ads aimed at moderates and swing voters avoid naming a party, while digital ads that run outside a candidate's state lean on it. Michael Heseltine, a researcher at Oxford University who studies how members of Congress use social media, said candidates are spending more time on national talking points. "[If] we continue on that trend, you'll probably find more and more members who have neglected their constituencies or at least not presented themselves as representatives of their constituencies," he said.

The Ossoff campaign told NPR it does not target audiences by location and said the campaign "is powered by small-dollar donors because the Senator refuses donations from corporate PACs and federal lobbyists." Other campaigns declined to comment or did not respond to requests.

Out-of-state money for congressional races has risen each cycle, according to OpenSecrets. Daniel Hopkins, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said candidates now answer to a local voter base and a national donor base. "When Jon Ossoff is trying to compete for votes, he's competing against Georgia Republicans," Hopkins said. "But when Jon Ossoff is trying to compete for dollars, he's competing for attention and for donations, ultimately with other prominent Democratic candidates."

Hawaii caps out-of-state donations starting in 2027, but Raymond La Raja, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts, said national limits face court hurdles. The Supreme Court ruled in June to allow coordinated campaign spending, which permits more out-of-state funds in elections. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has spent three times as much on ads at this point as in the previous midterms.

Sarah Bryner, a director who studies campaign finance at Public Agenda, points to candidates who raised heavily from out of state and lost anyway: Amy McGrath against Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, and Beto O'Rourke against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas. "As much as money in politics is such a factor in America, voters are still ultimately who makes the final decision," Bryner said. "And if you're getting all your money from outside of the state, those people can't vote for you."