Nearly $1.8 billion in political advertising has been reserved to run nationally after Labor Day and through Election Day, according to AdImpact. It says Senate spending leads the way with $603 million in reservations, followed by the House with $458 million and the Presidential election with $401 million.
Issue spending also comprises a significant slice of the overall reservation total with $231 million. Measures to protect abortion access, for example, will go before voters this fall in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota. New York also has a ballot measure that proponents say would protect abortion rights, though there’s a dispute about its impact. In Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota, voters will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana for adults.
Pennsylvania — and its 19 electoral votes — unsurprisingly leads all states with $305 million in post-Labor Day reservations. AdImpact says Ohio, Michigan, California and Arizona make up the rest of the top five most expensive states.
Top markets include Philadelphia ($127.4M), Las Vegas ($107.6M), Phoenix ($107.5M), Los Angeles ($84.6M), and Detroit ($81.6M). Overall, AdImpact says, Democratic advertisers have topped the $1 billion mark in post-Labor Day reservations. That’s 41% higher than the nearly $588 million reserved by Republicans.
The $401.5 million of Presidential reservations focuses almost exclusively on the key battleground states: Pennsylvania ($137.1M), Georgia ($67.4M), Michigan ($61.1M), Arizona ($39.7M), Wisconsin ($36.1M), North Carolina ($28.1M), and Nevada ($19.9M).
FF PAC, AdImpact says, has the greatest total reservations of all Presidential advertisers ($140.3M) spread across the key battleground states. The Harris campaign ($103.2M) has the second-largest fall reservation total.
Among Republican side, MAGA Inc. has made $45 million in post-Labor Day reservations, and the Trump campaign has $57.5 million. Overall, Democrats lead in Presidential reservation totals, $284.6 million to $116.9 million.
