Ad spending in Senate races -- so far-- tops $153 million, report shows
If any more evidence is needed to prove that Labor Day no longer marks the beginning of campaign season, one only has to turn on the television.
As of Aug. 25, candidates, political parties and third party groups had already spent $153.4 million on 428,200 ads related to this year's Senate elections, according to an analysis from the Center for Public Integrity. The analysis is based on data collected by Kantar Media/CMAG, which tracks local broadcast TV and national cable ads running in every major market.
The analysis also shows that outside groups are going toe-to-toe with the candidates and political parties themselves in terms of spending. The candidates and parties have spent $78.6 million on 223,700 ads so far, while outside groups have spent $74.8 million on 204,500 ads. Outside groups have become huge players in campaigns since the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling cleared the way for corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money in politics.
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The most money has been spent on TV ads so far in Georgia, where Democrat Michelle Nunn, the daughter of former Sen. Sam Nunn, is running against Republican businessman David Perdue to replace retiring GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss.
So far, the candidates, parties and outside groups have spent $22.5 million on TV ads there. The bulk of the spending -- $14.5 million -- came from the candidates and parties themselves, which is not surprising given that Perdue was in a drawn out primary competition. Perdue defeated longtime Rep. Jack Kingston in a runoff for the Republican nomination, even though Kingston spent the most of any candidate -- $4.6 million on more than 8,000 ads.
After Georgia, the most money has been spent on TV ads in North Carolina, where Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan is in a competitive race against North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis. A total of $18.4 million has been spent on that race, with most of the spending ($14.7 million) coming from outside groups. The biggest spender so far is the Democratic-aligned Senate Majority PAC, which has spent $4.2 million on 9,587 ads. The next-biggest spender is the GOP-aligned Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, which has spent $2.4 million on 3,087 ads.
Rounding out the top five Senate races on the list are Colorado, Louisiana and Kentucky. In Colorado, two vulnerable Democrats are seeking reelection (Colorado Sen. Mark Udall and Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu), while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is up for re-election in Kentucky.
