Aaron Blake: “President Donald Trump’s extremely well-heeled political operation has begun an advertising campaign ahead of the 2026 midterm elections that Republicans have been eagerly awaiting.”

“But the first offerings focus on something decidedly unpopular: Trump himself.”

“National Democrats and Republicans are pressuring local TV stations to respond in opposite ways to a new federal court ruling on political ad rates,” Axios reports.

“How they respond will have a major impact on the fight for control of Congress by deciding which party’s ad money goes further in the final stretch of the 2026 midterms.”

Peter Hamby: “As the next presidential race looms, Democratic operatives have begun studying how to reach less politically engaged swing voters on the platforms that may determine the next election—TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and even ChatGPT.”

“And they’re already strategizing about how to leverage their search activity to create ads blaming Vance and Rubio for everything from high gas prices to contaminated lettuce.”

New York Times: “The Harris side, awash in cash, mostly ran streaming television ads the old-fashioned way — targeting by geography…”

“The Trump side layered its advertising strategy to serve fewer streaming ads to those it believed were seeing ads on other channels, and more to those who were not.”

A small Democratic PAC is running ads on porn sites, NPR reports.

“The ads are simplistic: a five second static image the viewer must see before they can hit “skip” to get to the video they’re there to watch. The image has ominous music and features things like a woman in lingerie with this message: ‘Trump’s Project 2025 will ban porn. Enjoy while you can.’ The ads also instruct the viewer to ‘Google Trump porn ban.'”

Texas state Rep. Caroline Harris Davila (R) put out a campaign ad ending with Davila and her husband posing with four children in an “idyllic family shot,” the Texas Tribune reports.

However, the kids are not hers.

“In the ad, Harris Davila says she’s protecting ‘our future,’ and she’s seen patting the smallest of four kids on the back while smiling and talking with the other three. In the final shot, she picks up that boy while Darrell Davila puts his arm around the second-smallest boy, smiling for the camera.”

The Bulwark: “When it comes to television, the campaign is largely focused on abortion, taxes, housing, and healthcare, according to a CNN breakdown of the spending. The topic of the 2020 election—Trump’s attempt to overturn the result, the events of January 6th, and what all this means for the future of American democracy—has been largely reserved for online political warfare and earned media mentions to juice the political press into reporting on the issue.”

“That decision doesn’t mean that Harris’s team is simply ignoring election denialism or threats to democracy, just that it’s emphasizing those themes online instead of on TV.”

“Democrats are massively outspending Republicans on internet campaign ads but one social network is a notable exception: X, owned by Elon Musk, who has increasingly used the platform to elevate his chosen candidate, former president Donald Trump,” the Washington Post reports.

“Accounts backing Republican candidates spent three times as much on political ads on X than those backing Democrats from March 6 to Oct. 1 — $3 million to $1 million.”

“The biggest political ad buyer on X is the official account for Trump, who has formed a close political alliance with Musk in recent months and was joined by the entrepreneur on stage at a rally Saturday. Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has not bought a single ad on the platform.”