Politics

Photo Moussa81/iStock Digital spending significant in Senate races; Abortion is still a top issue for Democrats in House and Gubernatorial races(MIDDLETOWN, CT) - September 8, 2022 - Democratic candidates are spending heavily on broadcast television advertising in U.S. Senate races, according to a new report from the Wesleyan Media Project.  In fact, as Table 1 shows, the top five advertisers on broadcast television over the past month have been Democrats.  Val Demings in Florida, Mark Kelly in Arizona, and Raphael Warnock in Georgia have each aired over 7,000 spots on broadcast television, while Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin and Tim Ryan…

Photo Gage Skidmore/FlickrDems talk abortion, while GOP looks to change the narrative; Outside Groups Invest Heavily(MIDDLETOWN, CT) August 11, 2022 - Over two million ads (at a cost of nearly one billion dollars) have aired on broadcast television in federal and gubernatorial races across the country between January 6, 2021, and August 7, 2022, according to a new report by the Wesleyan Media Project. Overall, the volume of ads is up 25.5 percent over the volume of ads during the same period in the 2018 election cycle with larger increases coming from federal contests compared to gubernatorial ones. Outside groups…

25 Percent of Pro-Republican House Ads in Past Week Mention Abortion (MIDDLETOWN, CT) May 12, 2022 – Mentions of abortion in televised political advertising have risen in the wake of the leaked draft of the Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, according to a new analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project.  The increase was especially pronounced in races for the U.S. House, where prior to May 3, 6.2 percent of pro-Democratic ads and 13.5 percent of pro-Republican ads mentioned the issue (Table 1).  Since that day, 22 percent of pro-Democratic ads and 24.5 percent of pro-Republican ads…