The Four Down and Dirtiest Political Ads of the 2026 Midterms

In 1988, President George H.W. Bush’s campaign put out the now-infamous Willie Horton ad. To portray Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis as soft on crime, the spot recounted the story of the felon who’d been released on a weekend pass when he stabbed a boy 19 times, kidnapped a couple, and raped a woman. Today, “Willie Hortoning” is a verb, and part of the standard political playbook. But in retrospect, Bush’s 1988 spot comes off as tame compared to the ads leading up to the 2026 midterms next week. As the elections approach, candidates locked in tight races have shown just how low they’re prepared to go to demonize their opponents and shock their constituents to gain a point in the polls. Ahead of voting next week, ADWEEK spent an afternoon in the mud to round up the most low-down of the lot. Hiring mom for public humiliation On Oct. 22, Ohio Republican Vivek Ramaswamy debuted an ad featuring Donna Arthur, mother of his opponent Amy Acton in the race for governor, debasing her daughter. Acton had long ago accused her stepfather, Cledith Arthur, of sexually abusing her in 1978, when she was 12. It’s a charge her mother denies. (Arthur lost custody of her daughter in the wake of a grand jury indicting her husband.) While leveraging sexual abuse allegations for votes wasn’t enough to shake President Trump, who called the ad “very powerful,” it crossed the line into sleaze territory for many. Ramaswamy’s favorability rating dropped by 2 points in the wake of the ad, according to a Suffolk University Political Research Center poll. It also drew fire from prominent Republicans including Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who called it "deeply, deeply troubling.” “The floor may have just fallen out from under the Republican campaign,” Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Renacci posted to his X account. The church camp pedophile In a dead-even race in Kansas, Sen. Roger Marshall’s reelection dug up dirt on Democratic opponent and church pastor Adam Hamilton. Marshall’s ad alleged that, in 2005 and 2006, Hamilton failed to do anything about reports that a church summer camp volunteer was molesting boys. “Adam Hamilton protected a pedophile!” blares the ad. Scott Preston Moore would be convicted of sexual offenses with a 16-year-old boy—but not until 2013. The Kansas City Star looked into the alleged 05-06 incident and concluded: "the court records reviewed by The Star do not establish that he [Moore] sexually assaulted anyone during that retreat." Hamilton admitted to CNN that “mistakes were made,” but denied a coverup. His campaign then went on the offensive. “Marshall lies and uses children as political pawns,” a Hamilton campaign spokesperson told the Kansas Reflector. Meanwhile, the Tall Oaks Camp cried foul over the ad’s use of photos of its facility (and children in it), claiming that the alleged abuse took place at a different camp. Domestic violence, guns, and a drug arrest In Ohio’s 7th congressional district, union ironworker Brian Poindexter's campaign dredged up domestic abuse allegations made against his opponent, incumbent Republican Congressman Max Miller, by his ex-wife Emily Moreno. In the ad, Summit County Sheriff Kandy Featheree to does the finger-pointing for Poindexter. “I run the jail in Ohio's fourth largest county and know what the worst of the worst looks like,” says the sheriff, standing by her squad car. “Max Miller's wife has a restraining order against him. A judge signed it." She goes on to cite court documents that say Miller beat Moreno, held a gun to her head, and that child welfare found a broken collarbone on their 2-year-old. “I have never done these things,” Miller has contended. Miller’s camp struck back with an ad that dug up Poindexter’s 1998 arrest for suspicion of crack possession. The future ironworker (18 at the time) was never charged, but no matter. “Poindexter wants to go from Crack to Congress,” retorted Miller’s ad. Vote Repubican—and gay A Pew study from the 2022 midterms showed 6% of voters crossed party lines, and that’s no small number. So it’s understandable that Steve Hilton, the GOP candidate for California governor, would want to encourage young Democrats to check the box for him instead of his opponent Xavier Becerra. Less understandable (to many) was the ad that encouraged them to do it. In it, two young women in stereotypical Gen-Z kit (tats, technicolor hair, pierced lips, etc.) sit on a bed in a darkened room with a LGBTQ+ pride flag on the wall behind them. They whisper about being nervous to try something for the first time. “I’ve just never done anything like this before,” says the blue haired girl. “What if my dad finds out?” As the girls’ hands move toward their laps, viewers learn what’s really making them sweat: checking the Republican box on a paper ballot. (The clincher: red-haired woman orders blue-haired woman: “now lick it.”) The ad was shared 5.6 million on X and the Gateway Pundit called it “hilarious.” But others expressed disgust—not with the same-sex content, but Hilton’s willingness to make a joke of it. “This is a bizarre and desperate ad from a person who has attacked the LGBTQ+ community,” said California congressman Robert Garcia, who is gay. Sonja Shaw, running for California State Superintendent, called the ad “creepy, weird, disturbing garbage” and an “example of exactly why good people are walking away from the Republican party.”

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The Four Down and Dirtiest Political Ads of the 2026 Midterms

With voting less than a week away, the ads are uglier than ever

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Robert Klara

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