Pa. dominates in political ad spending with high-stakes races for the White House and Senate
The extent of the political ad spending speaks to the importance of Pennsylvania in critical races for the White House and the Senate majority.
Pennsylvania is ahead of all other states in political ad spending during this election year, a sign that campaigns are pouring all they can into securing necessary support in the critical battleground state.
Political ad spending in the commonwealth has surpassed $507 million as of Monday, according to Axios, which relied on data from AdImpact, an ad-tracking website. This includes spending on TV, digital, radio, satellite, and streaming advertisements.
Pennsylvania could decide control of both the White House and the U.S. Senate in November.
The presidential race currently accounts for $189.5 million in spending in the battleground state, which helped decide the last two presidential elections.
The importance of Pennsylvania is especially true for Democrats whose main paths to victory include holding on to the commonwealth’s 20 electoral votes, which President Joe Biden secured with 50% of the vote. As of Friday, Democrats were outspending Republicans in Pa. by $43 million, according to Axios.
That spending occurred prior to President Joe Biden’s exit. Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign will likely maintain the heavy pace of spending in the state as it looks to close a polling gap with former President Donald Trump. Harris’ campaign reported that it raised $81 million with the first 24 hours of her becoming a candidate.
While Democrats have outspent on the race overall, MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump super-PAC, was the top spender in Pa. at $62 million. The group has continued to spend since Harris became the candidate, launching an ad this week attacking the vice president.
But so far the most expensive contest in the state is the high-stake U.S. Senate matchup between incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger Dave McCormick. Their race accounts for nearly $193 million in spending.
Democratic super-PAC, WinSenate, has spent $49 million on the race, the biggest amount by any group in the Senate contest and second highest spending total overall in the state.