The 6 most expensive, ad-soaked U.S. Senate midterm races

With Election Day nearly upon us, U.S. campaign ad spending levels continue to skyrocket. Here’s what you need to know right now: • Total measured campaign ad spending for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, gubernatorial and other key races in the U.S. midterm elections has surged past $4.6 billion, according to the latest Ad Age Campaign Ad Scorecard analysis. Campaign Ad Scorecard is part of Ad Age’s Campaign Trail coverage, a project of Ad Age Datacenter, led by Director of Data Management Kevin Brown in partnership with Kantar/CMAG. (For more details, scroll down to see our in-depth charts.) • That $4.6 billion total includes TV, radio and tracked digital advertising (from Dec. 28, 2021, through Election Day, as of Oct. 31, 2022). • Republicans and Democrats have near-parity—$1.99 billion vs. $1.97 billion, respectively—in their ad-spending contributions to the $4.6 billion total. (Independents and issue-oriented advertising, such as ballot initiatives, account for another $650 million.) Republicans have been outspending Democrats on U.S. Senate races ($776 million vs. $718 million) and gubernatorial races ($571 million vs. $522 million). Democrats, meanwhile, have been outspending Republicans on U.S. House races ($586 million vs. $581 million). • Total U.S. Senate race ad spending now sits at $1.5 billion. Major races ad spending by party Dollars in millions. Media spending RaceDemocratRepublicanOtherTotal U.S. Senate$718$776$22$1,516 U.S. House58654101,127 Governor522571111,104 Other140105617862 Total$1,967$1,992$650$4,609 • Of that $1.5 billion, candidates spent 38%, while PACs and the two major political parties spent 62%—though spending by Republican PACs skews the ratios. While Democrat campaigns and PACs/party are split 50/50 in spending, Republican campaigns accounted for just 27% of spending, vs. 73% spent by PACs and the GOP combined. Candidates versus PACs/parties Dollars in millions.Media spending Sponsor typeDemocratRepublicanOtherTotal Candidate$363$207$2$571 PAC or party35556920944 Total$718$776$22$1,516 • The six U.S. Senate races that have racked up more than $100 million in ad spending have been happening in the most predictable of places: battleground states. Georgia is at $222 million; Pennsylvania, $210 million; Arizona, $163 million; Wisconsin, $154 million; Ohio, $137 million; and Nevada, $127 million. • Just the U.S. Senate races in just those six states have racked up $1 billion in campaign ad spending. U.S. Senate campaign spending by state Dollars in millions. Media spending StateDemocratRepublicanOtherTotal Georgia$118$100$4$222 Pennsylvania941160210 Arizona102592163 Wisconsin78760154 Ohio39980137 Nevada79453127 North Carolina3860098 New Hampshire4840290 Florida3226058 Colorado2515342 Other651419215 Total$718$776$22$1,516 U.S. Senate campaign spending by candidate Excludes PAC and party spending. Dollars in millions. Candidate (party) (incumbent)StateMedia spending Raphael Warnock (D) (i)Georgia$69 Mark Kelly (D) (i)Arizona48 Val Demings (D) Florida35 Catherine Cortez Masto (D) (i)Nevada31 Tim Ryan (D) Ohio28 John Fetterman (D) Pennsylvania26 Mandela Barnes (D) Wisconsin22 Mehmet Oz (R) Pennsylvania21 Cheri Beasley (D) North Carolina20 Marco Rubio (R) (i)Florida18 Other255 Total$571 U.S. Senate campaign spending by PACs & parties Dollars in millions. PAC or partyMedia spending Senate Leadership Fund (R)$183 Senate Majority PAC (D)141 One Nation (R)51 Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) (D)49 Georgia Honor (D)35 National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) (R)34 Club For Growth Action (R)30 Other Democratic PACs131 Other Republican PACs269 Other PACs and parties20 Total$944 Where the big PACs spend Spending by state for Senate Majority PAC and Senate Leadership Fund. Dollars in millions. PAC, stateMedia spending Senate Leadership Fund (R) Georgia$39 Pennsylvania32 North Carolina28 Ohio28 New Hampshire17 Wisconsin17 Nevada14 Alaska7 Total for SLF$183 Senate Majority PAC (D) Pennsylvania$36 Arizona31 Nevada27 Wisconsin22 North Carolina14 New Hampshire10 Total for SMP$141 Total$324 Source: Media spending from Kantar/CMAG. Spending (booked or spent) for TV, radio and digital ads between Dec. 28, 2021, and Election Day as of Oct. 31, 2022. Some candidates and PACs had begun spending, some significantly, in 2021. Spending shown by candidate excludes PACs. • Kantar/CMAG recently raised its total ad spending forecast for the midterms to $9 billion—which includes ad outlays for additional campaigns and media beyond the nationally significant races that Ad Age Datacenter tracks. As Kantar/CMAG’s Steve Passwaiter noted in an Oct. 9 Ad Age guest post, good old-fashioned TV is still getting the lion’s share of the windfall, though digital platforms continue to rise. Per Kantar’s forecast, the $9 billion will break down to: $4.6 billion for local broadcast TV, $1.4 billion for OTT, $1.5 billion for local cable TV/satellite, $1.2 billion for Facebook and Google and $300 million for local radio. Become an All Access subscriber Get access to exclusive resources including Leading National Advertisers, World’s Largest Advertisers, Agency Report, Agency Review Tracker and TV Pricing Report. Click here

The 6 most expensive, ad-soaked U.S. Senate midterm races

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