WBUR 90.9 FM

The costliest ads

The highest-spend ad of each distinct text, as it ran.

• A weekly newsletter covering the 2026 midterm elections and ballot questions.

  5 October 2026 · WBUR 90.9 FM · $1–1.5K · 40K+ impressions · Informational · Ad Library

• If you’ve looked for housing in Massachusetts lately, you know: it’s really expensive to buy a home here. Question 7 on this year’s ballot aims to tackle that problem by proposing a law change that would make it easier to build single-family homes on smaller plots of land. If passed, the measure would amend the state’s Chapter 40A law and override local zoning rules. About half the land zoned for residential housing today requires a minimum of 40,000 square feet for a single-family home plot; Q

  19 October 2026 · WBUR 90.9 FM · $100 – $199 · 15K+ impressions · Informational · Ad Library

• Question 2 on the Massachusetts ballot this year asks voters if attorneys with the Committee for Public Counsel Services have the right to form a union. CPCS has roughly 500 attorneys who handle criminal charges and welfare cases for people who can't otherwise afford a lawyer. CPCS attorneys and staffers have pressed the Legislature for years to approve a unionization process for them, but without success. Supporters say a union would help the attorneys get better treatment and better pay as th

  16 October 2026 · WBUR 90.9 FM · $100 – $199 · 10K+ impressions · Informational · Ad Library

• Ballot Question 9 asks voters whether to keep or scrap a 2024 gun law. A “yes” vote keeps the law in place; a “no” vote repeals it. The 116-page law — which has rolled out in stages over the past two years — added a slate of new regulations and updated some existing firearms controls. It’s before voters because of an effort by gun rights advocates, who strongly opposed the legislation and began a referendum effort quickly after it was signed into law. They argue the law damages hunting traditi

  16 October 2026 · WBUR 90.9 FM · $100 – $199 · 20K+ impressions · Informational · Ad Library

• Ten years ago, Massachusetts voters legalized the sale of recreational cannabis. On Nov. 3, they’ll get to decide whether to reverse course. Question 8 on this year’s ballot would collapse the $8 billion cannabis industry, while leaving intact rules that allow for the sales of medical marijuana and the limited possession of pot for recreational use. It would make Massachusetts the first state to repeal recreational cannabis. Supporters of the effort to undo legalized recreational weed in the s

  16 October 2026 · WBUR 90.9 FM · $100 – $199 · 20K+ impressions · Informational · Ad Library

• Question 3 on the Massachusetts ballot asks voters to decide if the state should eliminate the separate party primaries we have now and switch to a single all-party state primary or “top-two” primary. The proposed primary election system would place all candidates into one primary, on one ballot. The top two winners of that race would go on to compete in the general election. Supporters say all-party primaries make elections more competitive in a state where the Democratic Party is often the o

  16 October 2026 · WBUR 90.9 FM · $100 – $199 · 15K+ impressions · Informational · Ad Library