Election Day is just around the corner, and data from ad tracking firm AdImpact shows that just under $1 billion was spent on political ads for last week’s vote.
That $994 million is nearly one-tenth of the more than $10 billion spent on political ads so far in 2023 in just seven days. And while Election Day may temporarily end the onslaught of spending that has seemed to dominate TV commercial breaks in recent weeks, it’s not over yet. More than $300 million in future advertising space remains reserved between Sunday and Tuesday.
The most expensive election last week was unsurprisingly the presidential election, with more than $272 million spent on advertising, according to data from AdImpact. Former President Donald Trump’s campaign narrowly outspent Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign between $43.4 million and $40.7 million between October 27 and November 2, but the Democratic super PAC’s As a result, it narrowly outspent Republicans in presidential election spending during this period.
The bulk of the roughly $1 billion spent on advertising this week went to down-ballot races across the country, with candidates and outside groups furiously filing for Congress, statehouses, key ballot questions and other races. They are spending at a rapid pace.
More than $267 million has been spent on advertising for down-ballot races, all races other than presidential, gubernatorial, and congressional races.
The two highest-spending campaigns were in Florida, with $19 million spent on ads on the abortion rights referendum and about $18.5 million on the marijuana legalization referendum. Another down-ballot race saw more than $10 million in advertising spent last week. It’s California’s referendum on rent control.
The Senate race has raised $227 million so far.
Three Senate races in Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania each raised more than $30 million last week. Wisconsin and Michigan are in the next tier, spending more than $23 million last week.
More than $208 million was spent on advertising in the House race.
New York’s 19th District (where Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Molinaro is trying to thwart a race against Democrat Josh Riley) has the most advertising spending, at about $9 million. California’s 45th District, contested by Republican Rep. Michelle Steele and Democratic Rep. Derek Tran, has the next-highest ad spending at about $7.5 million, closely followed by California’s 27th District, which is contested by Republican Mike Tran. -Congressman Garcia is competing against Democratic Congressman George Whiteside.
With relatively few competitive races this season, last week’s gubernatorial race spent just $18 million on advertising.
New Hampshire’s open gubernatorial race, featuring Republican former Sen. Kelly Ayotte and Democratic former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, is spending the most on advertising ($6.7 million).
