Midterm ad numbers down from 2010's tea party wave

As Democrats scramble Tuesday to retain control of the Senate, a final tally shows that the number of political ads invested in during this cycle has actually dwindled from the 2010 midterm elections, which saw a changing of the guard when tea party conservatives aided the Republican Party to a majority in the House.

This election cycle, spending on TV ads for federal and gubernatorial elections in 2014 reached $1.19 billion, as of Oct. 23, according to an analysis by Wesleyan University and Kantar Media. That spending added up to about 2.2 million instances of ad airing. The volume four years ago showed more than 2.4 million instances. The volume for September and most of October, compared with the same period in 2010, shows a 12 percent drop in volume of ads aired.

At first glance, it might seem like an odd statistic for Democrats, who are endeavoring to maintain control of the Senate. Though pro-Democratic TV ads in competitive Senate races are up 37 percent, Republicans are still spending more. In the top 10 races, the GOP spent $30 million in the past two weeks, compared to Democrats' $27 million.

Meanwhile, Democrats' improbable chances of retaking the House are on full display in their advertising efforts. Facing unlikely odds to gain 19 seats in the lower chamber, the party's number of ads pushing House candidates is down 27 percent.

"With disappointment in Republican success in 2012, you're seeing a lot more traditional Republican donors going to outside issue groups, while you're seeing more reliability among donors supporting Democratic candidates," Brian Donahue, a Republican strategist, told the Wall Street Journal.

Paul Lindsay, a spokesman for the Karl Rove-backed super PAC American Crossroads, suggested conservative groups were reserving airtime for a last-minute surge.

"Our goal was to make sure we were matching the Democrat groups as best we can leading up to the election," he told the Journal. "There was a renewed interest among donors in the opportunity to take control of the Senate, and the quality of all the candidates in these Senate races."