Democrats Get More Bang for Their Ad Buck

The Downballot: “New data from AdImpact shows that, across nine of the most competitive Senate contests, Republicans had spent $563 million on advertising through the end of September versus $375 million for Democrats—a gap of 60% to 40% in favor of the GOP.”

“But in terms of the actual number of ads aired, the difference is much smaller. In total, Republican ads have run roughly 290,000 times, while the Democrats’ have appeared approximately 250,000 times. That’s a much smaller difference of 54% to 46%.”

“Why hasn’t the GOP spending spree translated into a comparable advertising edge? Because Republicans have heavily relied on third-party groups like super PACs, which have to pay prevailing market rates for ads. Candidates, by contrast, are entitled by law to the lowest rates that broadcasters offer.”