Election Spending Predicted to Skyrocket

If you use social media, watch movies or TV shows, look through your family’s mail, or spend time on the Internet, you are likely seeing a lot of political advertisements. Political candidates began using print advertisements to campaign for office in the early 1900s. As technology advanced, so did advertising. Candidates started to use radio to campaign in the 1920s, and political ads on television became an important part of campaigns beginning with the 1952 presidential election. Today, the Internet and social media have increased the ways political advertisements can reach voters. With all of these different ways to reach voters, spending on political advertisements has skyrocketed.  

How Much Money? 

AdImpact is a company that tracks the millions of times advertisements air on TV, digital platforms, and streaming devices. They also track how much those ads cost to broadcast. AdImpact predicts that $10.2 billion will be spent on ads during the 2024 election cycle, or the time period in which elections take place. This includes ad spending for election races at local, state, and national levels and for all media platforms (television, radio, and digital). This level of spending will make the 2024 election cycle the most expensive ever. To get an idea of how much money will be spent, imagine if you could save $1,000 every day. It would take you 2,739.72 years to save just $1 billion! That is approximately 10 percent of the predicted ad expense this election cycle! 

Who Buys Political Ads? 

Candidates build a campaign team to develop and carry out a plan to win an election. A big part of these plans is advertising. Many different people and groups pay for advertising. For example, the political candidate and the political campaign buy ads. Political parties also buy ads in support of candidates or ballot measures that are important to the party. Ballot measures are local or statewide issues, questions, or laws voters decide on in an election.  

SuperPACs also purchase ads. SuperPACs are organizations formed to collect money and support political candidates and ballot measures. SuperPACs do not work with election campaigns or donate money directly to candidates’ campaigns or parties. However, SuperPACs can buy advertisements that recommend the election or defeat of candidates. SuperPACs also buy ads supporting or opposing ballot measures. For example, the National Education Association (NEA) Fund is a SuperPAC. It was started by the country’s largest teachers union in 2010. The NEA Fund supports candidates based on their stated education policies. It also uses funds to promote ballot measures that affect education. 

Presidential Race 

Most ad spending for 2024 is focused on the presidential race. Ad spending is already double the amount it was at the same point in the 2020 election cycle. Several candidates are trying to win the Republican Party’s presidential nomination. SuperPACs supporting these Republican presidential candidates have already spent more than $120 million on advertising. The ads are supposed to influence voters in the Republican primary elections and caucuses. Political parties use primaries and caucuses to decide which candidates will be on the ballot in the general election.   

SuperPACs and other groups supporting Democratic President Joe Biden have spent around $10 million on ads so far this election cycle. There is less spending on ads because Biden is the incumbent and not expected to face any serious challengers for the Democratic presidential nomination. Spending by all parties will increase after the Republican and Democratic party nominees are officially chosen. AdImpact predicts ad spending on the presidential race will top $2.7 billion. AdImpact predicts that spending by presidential candidates will be highest in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Ad spending will likely be higher in these states because polls show that Democrats and Republicans have nearly the same amount of support.  

Congressional, Gubernatorial, and Other Races 

AdImpact thinks organizations, campaigns, and individuals will spend $3.8 billion on Congressional races. Republicans and Democrats are buying a lot of ads in congressional races. Republicans are trying to keep a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Meanwhile, Democrats are trying to maintain its majority in the U.S. Senate. AdImpact predicts ad spending of around $361 million in gubernatorial (governor) races and $3.3 billion in other state political races. 

Why Buy So Many Ads? 

Political advertisements serve several different purposes. Some ads focus on getting people to vote. Some people may think their candidate has enough support and decide not to vote, but voter turnout is very important. This is especially true in battleground states, or states with nearly the same support for the Republican and Democratic candidates. Other ads are trying to raise money for their candidate or ballot measures. However, the goal of most ads is to influence which candidate and what ballot measures people will vote for in an election. Regardless of their purpose, the billions of dollars in spending means most Americans will see many political ads over the next 13 months. 

What Do You Think? What do you think about how much money is spent on political ads? Do you think political ads will influence how you vote in elections in the future? Why or why not?