Trump-Aligned Groups Place $150 Million in Fall Ad Reservations
Three groups aligned with Donald Trump placed more than $150 million in initial ad reservations in the two weeks ending Sept. 18, 2026.
The groups are MAGA Inc., No Going Back PAC and Safety and Affordability PAC, according to reporting on fall reservations. NPR The reservations, which are early holds on airtime, cover television, streaming and digital ads in Senate and House races. NPR
Texas accounts for much of the September activity. Reservations supporting Republican nominee Ken Paxton for September total more than $94 million, while reservations supporting Democratic nominee James Talarico for the same period total about $20 million. NPR Paxton is the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas and the state's attorney general. Talarico is the Democratic nominee and a state representative. NPR
The difference follows an earlier cash gap. At the June 30 campaign finance deadline, Talarico held 12 times more cash on hand — money left in campaign accounts — than Paxton. NPR
The Texas pattern fits the national Senate map, where Republican reservations lead Democratic reservations. An NPR analysis of AdImpact data found Republican candidates and groups pledged to spend more than $557 million, compared with $343 million for Democrats, in the nine most competitive Senate races in fall 2026. NPR
Republican reservations lead Democratic reservations in all but one of those nine races. Georgia is the outlier. NPR
Earlier September reporting captured a smaller phase of the same effort. Trump's super PAC — an outside group that can raise and spend unlimited sums to back candidates — had directed $49 million to key 2026 midterm races, with a recently created Republican group tied to the super PAC active in half a dozen races. The New York Times Reuters reported Sept. 11 that super PACs aligned with Donald Trump and Elon Musk spent millions to boost Republicans in battleground races. Reuters That included $15.7 million to lock in airtime in Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed is running. Reuters
Trump said he will allocate $400 million to $500 million from his super PAC to the midterms. Reuters Reporting published Sept. 6 put the super PAC's cash holdings at more than $400 million. NPR An earlier report published Sept. 5 put the Trump political group's spending on ads in the Texas Senate race at $10 million, well below the September reservation total reported Sept. 18.
The broader context here is timing and structure rather than final spending. Initial reservations lock rates and inventory for TV, streaming and digital, and they can be adjusted, moved or expanded. For campaign teams, the relevant point is the difference between candidate cash on hand at the June 30 deadline and outside reservations placed in September. A candidate deficit can be offset if allied super PACs reserve early at scale, particularly in expensive states where fall inventory tightens.
Looking at what this means for the Senate battleground, the operative question is distribution. A $214 million aggregate gap across nine races gives Republican committees and super PACs flexibility to shift weight late. Democrats retain an edge in Georgia on reservations, while Republicans hold reservation leads elsewhere. In Texas, the outside reservation margin for Paxton exceeds Talarico's June cash advantage on paper, which puts pressure on Democratic outside groups to match reservations or rely on candidate efficiency and field work.
