Senate races see surge in out-of-state money

Campaigns for four competitive U.S. Senate seats in 2025 and 2026 have drawn in massive amounts of money from outside their home states. An analysis of digital advertising data shows that candidates in Iowa, Georgia, Ohio, and Texas spent more than $15 million on fundraising-related ads during this cycle.

Roughly three quarters of that spending went to advertisements that ran across the country rather than just within the state lines. These national ads often focus on broad political themes, such as the status of the White House or the control of the Senate, instead of specific local issues that affect residents in those four states.

The flow of out-of-state dollars is most visible in the individual contribution records for some candidates. In the races for Georgia and Iowa, more than 80 percent of itemized individual gifts came from donors living outside the state. This trend has affected at least four of the current competitive Senate races, where the majority of campaign cash originates from outside the district.

Digital platforms ActBlue and WinRed have made it cheaper and easier to collect small donations from far away. Zachary Albert, a politics professor at Brandeis University, noted that these tools lower the cost of soliciting funds. He explained that even a small contribution of five or ten dollars is worth the effort because the technology reduces the expense of asking for the money.

Michael Franz of the Wesleyan Media Project observes that candidates use different messages for local voters and national donors. In local television ads, candidates usually avoid stating their party affiliation to appeal to swing voters. However, in digital ads aimed at out-of-state donors, the party label becomes more important to identify who is receiving the money.

This split in messaging is evident in current campaigns. Former Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown urges viewers to turn his state blue, while Georgia Representative Mike Collins asks for help to make his state's Senate seat red. Iowa Representative Ashley Hinson highlights her America First stance in ads, and Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff directly attacks President Trump in fundraising appeals.

Daniel Hopkins, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said candidates now must appeal to two distinct groups. They compete for local votes against their immediate opponents, but they compete for national donor attention against other candidates from their own party. This dynamic pushes candidates to promote party platforms that resonate with a nationwide audience.

Historically, Democrats relied more on out-of-state funds due to weaker local funding systems in swing states. They built the ActBlue platform in 2004, nearly 15 years before Republicans launched WinRed in 2019. Sarah Bryner of Public Agenda noted that donors in one-party states often send money to competitive states like Georgia or Texas because their own state results are predictable.

The Ossoff campaign stated that it is powered by small-dollar donors because the senator refuses money from corporate PACs and federal lobbyists. The other campaigns involved in the analysis declined to comment or did not respond to interview requests. The rise in out-of-state funds has occurred alongside a Supreme Court ruling in June that favored coordinated campaign spending, allowing for more outside money in elections.

Researchers suggest several methods to manage the influence of outside money. Some states are considering caps on out-of-state donations, while others propose fund matching programs that reward local contributions with public money. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has already spent three times as much on advertisements in this cycle as it did in the previous midterms.