Anamika Dey, editor
Brief news
- Nearly $1 billion was spent on political ads in the past week, nearing $10 billion total for 2023, with significant spending still anticipated before Election Day.
- The presidential campaign led expenditures, with Trump and Harris closely competing, while down-ballot contests received over $267 million.
- Key issues in Florida’s referendums on abortion and marijuana saw substantial ad spending, alongside notable investments in Senate and House races across various states.
Detailed news
In the past week, there has been a little less than one billion dollars spent on political advertisements all over the nation, according to statistics provided by AdImpact, a company that tracks advertisements. This comes as Election Day is drawing near.
Spending $994 million on political advertising is close to one-tenth of the more than $10 billion that has been spent on political advertising since the beginning of 2023. This amount was spent over the course of just seven days. There is still more than $300 million in potential advertising time planned between Sunday and Tuesday, despite the fact that Election Day may bring a temporary halt to the spending barrage that has apparently dominated every television commercial break in recent weeks. However, this activity is not yet ended.
The presidential campaign has been the most expensive over the past week, with over $272 million in advertising expenditures, according to data from AdImpact. This is unsurprising. Between October 27 and November 2, the campaign of former President Donald Trump has outspent that of Vice President Kamala Harris by a mere $43.4 million to $40.7 million. However, Democratic super PACs have assisted the Democratic party in narrowly outspending the Republican party during this time in the presidential race.
The overwhelming majority of the nearly $1 billion spent on advertisements this week has been allocated to down-ballot contests throughout the nation. Candidates and outside groups have been investing heavily in races for the state House, Congress, pivotal ballot questions, and other races.
Over $267 million has been allocated to advertisements in down-ballot contests, which encompass all races except for those for the presidency, governorship, and Congress.
The two elections in Florida that are generating the most expenditures are the ballot referendum on abortion rights, which is generating $19 million in advertising, and the ballot referendum on marijuana legalization, which is generating approximately $18.5 million.
During the last week, advertisements for a different election that was farther down the ballot received more than ten million dollars. This campaign was the referendum on rent control in the state of California.
$227 million has been raised thus far for Senate elections.
Over the past week, Ohio, Texas, and Pennsylvania have each attracted over $30 million in contributions for their respective Senate races.
Last week, Wisconsin and Michigan spent over $23 million, placing them in the next echelon.
More than $208 million has been spent on advertising in House elections.
The 19th District of New York, where Republican Representative Marc Molinaro is attempting to maintain his seat against Democratic Representative Josh Riley, has seen the largest advertising investment, amounting to approximately $9 million.
It is the 45th District of California, which is a battle between Republican Representative Michelle Steel and Democrat Derek Tran, that is seeing the second greatest level of advertising expenditure, with around $7.5 million. This is closely followed by the 27th District of California, where Republican Representative Mike Garcia is running against Democrat George Whitesides.
This cycle has seen a very low number of contested elections, which has resulted in just $18 million in advertising money being allocated to governors races during the last week.
Spending on advertisements is highest in the open race for governor of New Hampshire, which is being contested by Republican former Senator Kelly Ayotte and Democratic former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig. The total amount spent on advertisements is $6.7 million.
Source : CNBC News
