Releases

Ad Spending Tops $1 Billion, Yet Ad Volume is Down From the Last Midterm Election Over 600,000 Ads Sponsored by Groups; Almost 40 Percent Dark Money   (MIDDLETOWN, CT) October 29, 2014 – Spending on television ads in federal and gubernatorial races in the 2013-14 election cycle has now topped $1 billion, with an estimated $1.19 billion spent from January 1, 2013 to October 23, 2014 (Table 1). That spending paid for over 2.2 million ad airings. Including other races into the totals—other statewide offices, state representatives, ballot measures and local offices—raises airings to 2.96 million at an estimated cost…

Democrats Hold Slight Lead in Senate Advertising; Interest Groups Account for 40 Percent Senate Airings This Cycle, All-time High   (MIDDLETOWN, CT) October 14, 2014 – Just three weeks out from Election Day 2014, Democrats hold a very slight advantage in the most competitive Senate races. In 10 of the 15 Senate races with the highest volume of advertising, more ads favoring Democrats than ads favoring Republicans aired between September 26 and October 9 (Table 1). Table 1: Ad Volume and Spending in Top Senate Races Republicans continue to be more reliant on outside group advertising than Democrats. In 13…

Republicans Have Ad Advantage in Iowa, Kentucky Senate Races; Dems Ahead in Michigan, Louisiana   (MIDDLETOWN, CT) September 30, 2014 – Two weeks ago, the Wesleyan Media Project reported that Democrats had dominated advertising in the most competitive Senate races in the first part of September. But over the past two weeks, Republicans have built ad advantages in Iowa, Kentucky, Colorado and Alaska thanks to spending by outside groups. In all four of those states, over 40 percent of pro-Republican ad airings were sponsored by groups between September 12 and September 25. Table 1 shows ad volumes and spending in…

Dems Hold Advantages in Air War in Senate and House; GOP Airs More Ads in Gubernatorial Races (MIDDLETOWN, CT) September 16, 2014 – In the past two weeks, advertising in federal and gubernatorial races has not only increased in volume compared to the same period in 2010, but is more negative as well. Democratic advertising has outpaced Republicans advertising over the past two weeks in House and Senate races, while Republicans hold an edge in gubernatorial races. (more…)