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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
2020 ElectionsReleases

2020 Digital Spending Update

Trump Bets on Online Spending;Warren, Biden, Harris Top Democratic Spenders; Men Seeing More Online Presidential Ads   (MIDDLETOWN, CT) June 6, 2019 - In this early part of the 2020 election season, Donald Trump has spent vastly more on digital ads than his Democratic rivals, according to an analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project. Since May of 2018, Trump’s campaign committee and his joint fundraising committee with the Republican National Committee have spent over $18 million on digital advertising on two of the largest digital platforms, Facebook and Google—almost ten times as much as his nearest Democratic competitor, Elizabeth Warren…
Wesleyan Media Project
June 6, 2019