The midterms
Democrats have spent $163 million putting Trump on the air.
Since Sept. 1, Democratic ads have named the president nearly 180,000 times. Republican ads have named him about 16,000 times. He is due in Dalton, Georgia, today. This note closed before that rally.
The Rocket News · Washington Bureau · New YorkOctober 16, 2026 · 4 min read
NEW YORK — President Trump says he wants voters to pretend that he is on the ballot in the Nov. 3 midterms. Democrats are spending as if he is. Candidates and their allies have put more than $163 million into television ads that name him since Sept. 1, the Associated Press reported, using data from AdImpact. Those ads have aired nearly 180,000 times on broadcast, cable and streaming. Republican ads have named him about 16,000 times in the same stretch, at an estimated cost of $11 million. Across every federal, state and local race, Democrats have spent or plan to spend $1.8 billion on ads since Sept. 1. Republicans have spent or reserved $2.2 billion.
In Georgia, Sen. Jon Ossoff’s campaign has spent nearly $3 million on one ad against Rep. Mike Collins. The ad says Collins voted for the Iran war, for tariffs, and with Trump to raise health-insurance premiums. Trump is due in Dalton today, in northwest Georgia, with Collins and with Rick Jackson, the Republican nominee for governor. Their Democratic opponents are Ossoff and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said Trump is “the unequivocal leader, best messenger, and unmatched motivator for the Republican Party.” This desk closed before the Dalton rally. It does not have his remarks from that stage.
President Trump says he wants voters to pretend that he is on the ballot.
The photograph shows Trump in Kalispell, Montana, on Wednesday, both fists raised. It is that western swing. The Dalton rally is this afternoon, and this desk closed before he spoke. It is not an advertisement. The Politics desk files the spending. The Alaska debate is on the states page. The school in Bend is there too.
Wire and further reading: apnews.com
Filed under Politics
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The midterms
Eight in ten voters fault Trump on the cost of living.
An AP-NORC poll finds about three-quarters also disapprove of how he handles the economy. About half want substantial change. He spent Wednesday in Arizona and Montana promising a $5,000 check if Republicans hold Congress.
The House
Jeffries sketched a first 100 days if Democrats take the House.
The Democratic leader said the party would move at once on health-care tax breaks, Medicaid, a vote against the Iran war, and Trump’s tariffs. He said Democrats will be united right out of the gate.
The midterms
House Republicans say the chamber is slipping.
Five of them told Politico the majority is gone. Trump spent the night in Las Vegas and is due in Bullhead City, Arizona, this afternoon, then Montana. He told a crowd a Republican Congress is worth $5,000.
Video · CNN