EXCLUSIVE — Charles Koch’s grassroots network is spending $5.3 million on a new digital ad campaign boosting Republican candidates in five critical 2026 U.S. Senate races.
The ads first debuted on Wednesday, as Republicans, led by President Donald Trump, gathered in Dallas, Texas, for the party’s first-ever midterm convention. The campaign features 11 ads blanketed across Alaska ($700,000), Iowa ($750,000), Michigan ($1.5 million), New Hampshire ($850,000), and Ohio ($1.5 million) and will run on digital and connected TV platforms.
Ten of the ads were branded by Americans for Prosperity Action and are split evenly between positive spots backing the Republican candidates and negative attacks against the Democratic nominee in all five states. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) is the recipient of one additional positive ad, branded by Concerned Veterans for America Action.
The ads overwhelmingly tie Democratic candidates to the “extreme policies” of the Democratic Socialists of America, in contrast to Republicans’ “pocketbook solutions,” including tax cuts, unleashed energy production, and reining in reckless spending.
“Democratic socialism is dragging the whole party toward higher taxes, bigger government, and an all-out war on American energy,” AFP Action executive director Nathan Nascimento told the Washington Examiner. “If these candidates won’t stand up to their own party now, how do you think they’ll vote when the real pressure is on? Americans have a clear choice this fall — a government that controls you, or one that empowers you. Socialism’s empty promises only lead to poverty and suffering. Freedom is what truly delivers lower costs and a better life.”
Across the 2026 cycle, Republicans have heavily leaned into tying all Democratic candidates, including moderates, to the DSA. Trump himself claims that the “socialist” moniker is a thinly veiled attempt to sway voters into supporting communism.
“They call themselves Democrat Socialists, but actually, they’re communists. They’re not socialists. They’re long beyond socialists,” he said Wednesday night in Dallas. “It’s going to be a communist country if they win.”
TRUMP PROMISES $5,000 DIVIDEND FOR EVERY AMERICAN ADULT IF GOP WINS MIDTERM ELECTIONS
All 11 of the ads can be viewed below.