Via Smart Media Group, NBC News has been tracking general election ad spending in the nation’s top 10 Senate races this cycle. And on Election Day, we’ve got the final numbers calculating just how much interest groups, political committees and candidates shelled out in these competitive contests.
The total? A cool $429 million.
For these 10 Senate races – in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Hampshire and North Carolina -- Republicans outspent Democrats by a total of $230.4 million to $198.4 million on radio and television advertising.
The only state where Democrats outspent the GOP? In the nation’s most expensive Senate race in North Carolina, Democrats have shelled out $40.6 million compared to Republicans’ $39.9 million. The Democratic candidate in that race, Kay Hagan, has also spent the most of any candidate on the air, at $11.4 million.
In the second costliest race, in Colorado, Republicans are outspending Democrats $35.7 million to $27.4 million, for a total of $63.1 million in the Centennial State.
Big spenders in the 10 races include the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ($49.9 million), the National Republican Senatorial Committee ($36.4 million) and the Koch-affiliated Freedom Partners Network ($32.1 million).
And the voters who were subjected to the biggest deluge of cash in individual media markets? Denizens of Denver, Colorado, who were inundated with a total of $38.4 million during the general election.