Altogether, $10.5 billion has been spent on campaign ads in the 2024 election cycle, on races from president down to county commissioner, according to data compiled by the ad-tracking firm AdImpact and analyzed by NPR.
That total is up $1 billion from four years ago.
Democrats have outspent Republicans, $5 billion to $4.1 billion, from the beginning of the cycle, starting in January 2023. (Independent, third-party and nonpartisan groups account for the rest.)
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Twenty-three states this cycle have seen more than $100 million spent. But one state tops them all: Pennsylvania. An astonishing $1.2 billion has been spent on ads in the state, the first time in U.S. history that a single state has seen more than $1 billion in ads.
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Pennsylvania has been a political hotbed in this cycle. In addition to the presidential campaign, which has dumped in $576 million in ads, there are also competitive Senate and House races in the state. The Senate contest has seen $344 million, and that's not even the most money spent on a Senate race. That honor belongs to Ohio, where about $518 million in ads have run.
Across the country, about $3 billion has been spent on the presidential election, including the primaries. That's slightly lower than 2020, but that was skewed by former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg spending $586 million in ads for his failed Democratic primary effort. That was almost as much as the $651 million that President Biden's campaign spent in the primary and general election against former President Donald Trump.
About $2.6 billion of this year's total has gone to general election efforts, which started unofficially after Super Tuesday in March.
Since March 6, Democrats — including the Biden and Harris campaigns, as well as outside groups supporting them — have outspent Republicans, $1.6 billion to $956 million.
The presidential campaign has been concentrated in seven states. Almost $4 out of every $5 spent for the presidential election has gone to Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada.
Democrats have outspent Republicans in each of the seven states. The most, $578 million, went to none other than Pennsylvania. Each party spent more than a quarter of all their ad money in the Keystone state.
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The amount of money spent in the presidential election is remarkable compared to 2020, considering how much smaller the field of competitive states is and that Florida is out of the ad-spending picture.
In 2020, $371 million was spent in the general election on Florida, an expensive place to buy ads because of its multiple media markets. This year, only $4 million has been spent there.
In 2020, the most money spent was on Georgia. It was hotly contested in the presidential election and had a Senate runoff. But with all races combined in Georgia in 2020, $787 million was spent, almost half-a-billion dollars less than the spending seen in Pennsylvania this year. Georgia has seen the third-most spending specifically in the presidential election this year, $304 million, behind Pennsylvania and Michigan ($376 million).
The biggest spenders in this election include the presidential campaigns, committees trying to elect candidates to the Senate and House, as well as several outside groups.
Here are the top 10 spenders:
1. Harris for President (D) $513 million
2. FF PAC (D) $441 million
3. MAGA Inc. (R) $360 million
4. WinSenate (D) $353 million
5. Trump for President (R) $327 million
6. Senate Leadership Fund (R) $224 million
7. House Majority PAC (D) $207 million
8. Congressional Leadership Fund (R) $201 million
9. Biden for President (D) $111 million
10. Harris Victory Fund (D) $111 million
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The ads with the most money behind them are from outside groups:
$36 million: FF PAC
More money has been spent on this ad, running since Oct. 22, than on any other. It's from the pro-Harris outside group, FF PAC. It highlights a man who says he's "a lifelong Republican" and voted for Trump twice, but is now voting for Harris.
$26.7 million: MAGA Inc.
This ad focuses on Harris' record as a prosecutor and tries to paint her as a San Francisco liberal. It has run on heavy circulation since Oct. 9 in five of the seven swing states: North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
These are the top-two ads from the campaigns:
Harris campaign: economy contrast
This contrast ad focuses on what Harris wants to do for the economy compared to Trump. The Harris campaign has spent $19 million on this ad and has run it widely.
Trump campaign: cutting taxes
The Trump campaign has left the heavy lifting in the ad race to MAGA Inc., the principal outside group supporting his candidacy. The most the campaign has spent on a single ad has been this digital ad about ending taxes on Social Security benefits and tips.
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