The political advertising season has entered a new phase as former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are now on the air with messages appealing to voters. The Vice President has released her first ad with a biographical spot, while the former President is airing ads attacking his new opponent.
The ad tracking firm AdImpact says the Trump campaign is running $12.2 million worth of ads in six swing states through mid-August. And Harris has bought $50 million of time through the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19-22.
Looking ahead, more ads are on the horizon. AdImpact says the Harris campaign has $175.4 million in future reservations through Election Day, while the Trump campaign has $112.7 million in future reservations. Those figures are expected to increase, however.
Meantime, AdImpact has tabulated how much President Biden spent on his re-election effort before dropping out. It says the Biden campaign spent $207 million this cycle, with 56% of those dollars targeting Facebook and Google ads. Not all of Biden’s ad spending came from the campaign either. When outside group spending is factored in, AdImpact says pro-Biden ad spending reached $301 million.
President Biden was reluctant to drop out, and AdImpact data shows he was spending until the very end. It says Biden spent $63.3 million in June advertising, the most of any month this cycle.
Most of Biden’s ad money went to a handful of battleground states. AdImpact says Pennsylvania got the biggest share of Biden’s spending at $35.3 million. Pennsylvania was followed by Michigan ($26.3 million), Georgia ($21.4 million), Arizona ($16.2 million), Wisconsin ($15.5 million), North Carolina ($13.7 million), and Nevada ($11.4 million).
AdImpact’s analysis shows Biden aired more than three times as many broadcast television ads as Trump. The vast majority of those ads — 88% — were attacks on Trump. Other top topics were abortion rights, character, healthcare, crime, abortion, and Medicare.
If Harris secures the nomination at the Democratic National Convention next month, AdImpact says in a blog post that she is likely to receive $134.5 million in existing fall reservations in ads supporting her candidacy from Democratic Presidential advertisers. The firm also says 2024 Presidential spending and reservations have already passed the total from 2016. And while 2020 saw triple the amount of spending recorded so far, AdImpact predicts the new Democratic nominee and a surge in contributions will “skyrocket” Presidential ad spending during the next three months.
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