As Election Day looms, Hillary Clinton and her allies have outspent pro-Donald Trump forces on TV airwaves by a margin of 2-1 in the nation’s key presidential battleground states.
Overall, more than $385 million has been spent on presidential TV ads in 13 battleground states – Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Iowa, Colorado, New Hampshire, Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine and New Mexico. According to data from Advertising Analytics, Hillary Clinton and her allies have shelled out about $260 million on ads in those markets while Donald Trump and groups supporting him have spent about $125 million.
Despite the disparity, the 2-1 margin represents a significant last-minute influx of cash by Trump and his boosters – and a widening map of competitive states where both teams are spending big. One month ago, Clinton had an overall edge of 4-1 in the most competitive battlegrounds. Republicans have since poured nearly $7 million in advertising into Wisconsin and about $1.6 million into Michigan; Democrats have spent $2.8 million and $2.7 million in each state, respectively.
Florida, a notoriously expensive state for television advertisements, has accounted for about a third of the spending overall, with Democrats spending about $77 million compared to Republicans’ $38 million.
Other top states include Ohio (a total of $65 million spent), North Carolina ($48 million spent), Pennsylvania ($44 million spent) and Nevada ($34 million spent). In each of those crucial battlegrounds, the pro-Clinton effort has outstripped the pro-Trump spending by a margin of about 2-1.
In Iowa, a state that appears to trending in Trump’s direction, Republicans have spent only about $2.6 million compared to nearly $16 million spent by Democrats.