Election Day is three weeks away and the airwaves are only going to get more saturated with political ads. The 2024 cycle has seen $7.39 billion in ad spending through Oct. 11, according to AdImpact. That’s an increase of 27% vs. the $5.8 billion spent at this point during the 2020 election. The ad tracking firm says it has tallied $1.11 billion in political ads during the past two weeks alone.
With so much money being spent so quickly, it can be hard to gauge where things stand. But the battleground states remain where the biggest portion of dollars are heading. Three markets across Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Michigan had nearly identical spending in the first two weeks of October. AdImpact says Phoenix took the crown as the market that had the most spending, with political ads totaling $47.8 million. Philadelphia ranked second, with $47.5 million in political ads, followed by Detroit, at $47 million.
The next few weeks will include even more spending — analysts predict the week of Oct. 27 to be the peak based on current reservations —a potential record appears set to fall. Combining what has been spent so far with what is booked to run, the 2024 cycle is a lock for the record books. AdImpact says $9.09 billion worth of ads have either aired or will air in the coming weeks, which surpasses the $9.02 billion spent in 2020 and $8.98 billion spent in 2022. AdImpact earlier projected a record-breaking $10.69 billion will be spent on advertising during the 2024 election cycle.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who has reportedly raised more than $1 billion since entering the race in July, has spent the last two months as the biggest spender. In the past two weeks, her $66.2 million in advertising was good enough only for third place. Instead, the WinSenate PAC — which is working to get Democrats elected to the Senate — was the top spender at $72.8 million. Future Forward USA, a Democratic Party-aligned super PAC, was second, with $69.2 million in spending.
While broadcasters are getting the vast majority of the ad dollars, AdImpact says plenty of it is being spent online. The firm says $79.9 million has been spent on digital political ads on Facebook and Google in the past two weeks — with about half of that in the Presidential race.
Radio has typically done better in down-ballot races, and the competitive nature of 2024 may be driving more spending to stations in the coming weeks. AdImpact reports that U.S. House general elections have seen $933 million in total spending and reservations, with roughly two of every three dollars ($625 million) being spent on races that are considered toss-ups.
Based on its calculations, AdImpact says the average spending in each of the toss-up elections currently is $24 million, up 9% from $22 million in 2022. The race that has seen the most ad spending is Michigan’s seventh congressional district. With no incumbent, $34 million has been spent as Democrat Curtis Hertel, Republican Tom Barrett, and Libertarian Rachel Daily hope to claim victory.
On the U.S. Senate side, $377.8 million is currently booked for seats across the country, with most of the money going toward seven races. AdImpact says Pennsylvania leads with $75.5 million in reservations, followed by Ohio ($68.4 million) and Montana ($50.8 million). Among Senate races, it says Republicans have a slight spending advantage of about $4 million. But that is a small number considering how awash in cash the campaigns seem to be in the final weeks of the election cycle.
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