Pennsylvania U.S. Senate and gubernatorial campaign ad spending hits $85 million in just three months

Pennsylvania’s status as a political battleground is once again proving to be a major windfall for media owners and operators. Campaign ad spending in the Keystone State has hit $85 million across U.S. Senate and gubernatorial campaigns in the space of just three months, 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. An executive summary of—and essential context for—the charts you see on this page: Subscribe to Ad Age Datacenter for essential data and insights on all of the most-advertised brands. • The biggest advertising outlay so far has been focused on the seat currently held by Republican U.S. Senator Pat Toomey, who announced in October 2020 that he wouldn’t seek reelection. Republican candidates and the political action committees that support them have spent $34.4 million across TV, radio and digital advertising from Dec. 28, 2021, through Election Day as of March 30, 2022. Democratic candidates and PACs, meanwhile, spent $27.5 million in the same measurement window. (As we note in the fine print below, some candidates and PACs began spending—some significantly—in 2021, but for the purposes of our analysis, we’re tracking all candidates’ spending from Dec. 28 forward.) Submissions are now open for Ad Age’s Small Agency Awards • That said, the biggest single ad spender in Pennsylvania’s midterm U.S. Senate race is the pro-Democrat Senate Majority PAC, which burned through $20.8 million during our measurement window. Far behind in second place, at $8.9 million, is Honor Pennsylvania, a pro-GOP PAC. Spending grows in Pennsylvania It's all about the Senate. Dollars in millions. Media spending Race Democrats Republicans Total U.S. Senate $27.5 $34.4 $61.8 Governor 2.5 20.7 23.2 U.S. House 0.0 0.0 0.0 Total $29.9 $55.1 $85.0 Philadelphia gets all the love Top markets by spending for U.S. Senate, governor and U.S. House races. Dollars in millions. Media spending Market Democrats Republicans Total Philadelphia $15.5 $14.7 $30.3 Pittsburgh 6.8 15.4 22.1 Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York 2.8 11.0 13.8 Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hazleton 3.0 5.9 8.9 Johnstown-Altoona-State College 1.0 4.9 5.9 Top five 29.1 51.8 80.9 All other 0.9 3.2 4.1 Total $29.9 $55.1 $85.0 The real battle is for Pat Toomey's (R) Senate seat... Top media spenders. Dollars in millions. Sponsor (party) Media spending Senate Majority PAC (D) $20.8 Honor Pennsylvania (R) 8.9 Mehmet Oz (R) 8.6 Dave McCormick (R) 8.3 Conor Lamb (D) 4.2 All other 11.0 Total $61.8 ...but plenty's been spent in the gubernatorial race as well. Top media spenders. Dollars in millions. Sponsor (party) Media spending Bill McSwain and Commonwealth Leaders Fund* (R) $15.5 Dave White (R) 3.4 Jake Corman (R) 1.7 Josh Shapiro (D) 1.4 Pennsylvania Works (D) 1.1 All other 0.1 Total $23.2 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 March 30, 2022. Some candidates and PACs had begun spending--some significantly--in 2021. The Pennsylvania primary is May 17. *The total reflects spending by candidate Bill McSwain and the Commonwealth Leaders Fund, a PAC. Each entity spends independently and together, and are likely charged different rates. RSVP for Ad Age Next: Multicultural Marketing on May 9 at AdAge.com/NextMulticultural • At the campaign level, though, the two biggest-spending Republican candidates—former TV doctor Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund manager Dave McCormick—have each roughly doubled the outlay of the top-spending Democratic candidate, Conor Lamb, the current U.S. representative from Pennsylvania’s 17th congressional district. During our three-month measurement window, Oz is at $8.6 million, McCormick is at $8.3 million and Lamb is at $4.2 million. • In the race for Pennsylvania’s governorship, Republicans have been far outspending Democrats—$20.7 million vs. $2.5 million, during our measurement window—on advertising. William “Bill” McSwain, who formerly served as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, together with Commonwealth Leaders Fund, the powerful Pennsylvania PAC that backs him, make up most of that Republican spending. The incumbent, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, is term-limited out. RSVP for Ad Age In-Depth: TV Pivot on May 24 and 25 at AdAge.com/TVPivot • It’s worth noting that Pennsylvania will also elect 17 U.S. Representatives in November—down from 18, due to the results of the 2020 U.S. Census—and those races have yet to heat up in terms of advertising outlay. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court finalized the state’s new congressional map only on Feb. 23—the court got involved in the wake of Gov. Wolf and the state legislature deadlocking over the fine points of the redistricting—and the state’s filing deadline for candidates for U.S. congressional seats was just a few weeks ago (March 15). Subscribe to Ad Age Datacenter for essential data and insights on all of the most-advertised brands. Per an analysis by FiveThirtyEight, six of the 17 districts lean Democrat and eight lean Republican, leaving just three seats that are considered to be toss-ups. In other words, just a few races are likely to result in major ad-revenue windfalls for media owners and operators. And that advertising will, of course, be highly targeted down to the Zip Code-level within those competitive districts, vs. the full-state ad blitzes being seen around the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial campaigns within Pennsylvania. Ad Age A-List 2022 Best agencies of the year, ranked Top production companies to know about Definitive rankings of advertisers and agencies

Pennsylvania U.S. Senate and gubernatorial campaign ad spending hits $85 million in just three months

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