The 2026 midterm elections are being shaped by an unprecedented wave of dark money, with a New York Times review finding that approximately $1 billion in anonymous funds has flowed through the political landscape. In Michigan and Minnesota, tens of millions of untraceable dollars targeted progressive Democratic Senate candidates. In Kansas, secret money backing an obscure Democratic Senate candidate was 100 times what he had on hand. In Texas, Republicans secretly funded a weak Democratic nominee.

The deluge is upending races nationwide, with billionaires, corporations and special interests hiding their agendas. The Times's tally captures only publicly available spending, primarily television and digital ads and donations to super PACs from nonprofits, meaning the real total is likely higher.

Recent examples include Choose Freedom Inc. in Wyoming reserving about $22 million in ads for Republicans, another Republican-linked nonprofit launching a $22 million campaign, and Per Aspera Policy Inc. placing a $3.7 million ad buy in Ohio. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive who won Michigan's Democratic Senate primary, declared after victory that "the power of our many is greater than the power of their money." His opponent, Representative Haley Stevens, had benefited from roughly $62 million in secret-money-funded ads. Both parties are exploiting disclosure loopholes in what has become a partisan arms race.