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September 2019

2018 ElectionsBlogReleasesYear-End Summaries

Latest WMP Research

Photo: John Brighenti/Flickr 2018 Political Advertising Year-end Summary Published in PS (MIDDLETOWN, CT) September 27, 2019 -- New research published in PS by Erika Franklin Fowler, Michael M. Franz and Travis N. Ridout, co-directors of the Wesleyan Media Project, offers a post-mortem on political advertising in 2018, providing important context for that year’s “blue wave” in which Democrats picked up 40 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Using ad tracking data from the Wesleyan Media Project, the authors find that in the vast majority of races, there were more pro-Democratic than pro-Republican ads, including in the most competitive contests—and even in those races…
Wesleyan Media Project
September 27, 2019
2020 ElectionsReleases

Digital Spending Dominates in Early 2020 Presidential Race

Candidates Have Spent $61 Million on Facebook and Google and Just $11 Million on TV (MIDDLETOWN, CT) September 19, 2019 – Spending by presidential contenders on ads on Facebook and Google has reached $60.9 million this year, according to a new analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project. Those same candidates have spent about $11.4 million on television ads. Table 1 shows that topping the list of spenders on digital advertising is Donald Trump, whose campaign and joint fundraising committee with the RNC have spent almost $16 million on advertising on Facebook and Google, the two largest digital platforms for political…
Wesleyan Media Project
September 19, 2019