Ad spending for the 2018 midterms reaches nearly $3 billion
Nearly $3 billion has been spent on TV and radio advertisements in the 2018 House, Senate and gubernatorial races, essentially doubling the $1.5 billion spent on these midterm contests four years ago, according to ad-spending data from Advertising Analytics.
Of this money over the airwaves, Democratic candidates and groups have spent $1.5 billion (52.3 percent), Republicans have spent $1.3 billion (47.5 percent) and independents have spent $5.8 million (0.2 percent).
The most expensive races in the country are Florida's gubernatorial ($181 million), Florida's Senate ($173 million) and Illinois' gubernatorial ($128 million) contests.
The most expensive market is Orlando/Daytona Beach, Fla. (at $110 million), and the biggest overall advertiser is the Congressional Leadership Fund ($110 million), a GOP Super PAC focused on House races.
Here's a full breakdown of the numbers:
Total ad spending for the midterms (TV, radio): $2.9 billion
Total GOV spending: $991 millionTotal House spending: $956 millionTotal Senate spending: $926.5 million
Total Dem spending: $1.5 billion (52.3%)Total GOP spending: $1.3 billion (47.5%)Total Indie spending: $5.8 million (0.2%)
The Top 10 overall markets
- Orlando/Daytona Beach/Melbourne, FL: $110 million
- Las Vegas, NV: $103 million
- Los Angeles: $101 million
- Chicago: $100 million
- Tampa/St Pete/Sarasota: $99 million
- New York, NY: $96 million
- Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, FL: $80 million
- Phoenix, AZ: $75 million
- Detroit, MI: $74 million
- Philadelphia, PA: $70 million
The Top 10 outside spenders
- Congressional Leadership Fund (R): $110 million
- Senate Majority PAC (D): $105 million
- DCCC (D): $80.5 million
- Senate Leadership Fund (R): $67 million
- NRCC (R): $60 million
- House Majority PAC (D): $56 million
- Majority Forward (D): $52 million
- New Republican PAC (R): $30 million
- Independence USA (D-Bloomberg): $27 million
- One Nation (R): $26.6 million
Top 10 Senate races
- FL-SEN: $173 million
- MO-SEN: $94 million
- IN-SEN: $91 million
- NV-SEN: $78 million
- AZ-SEN: $74 million
- TN-SEN: $63 million
- TX-SEN: $50 million
- NJ-SEN: $47 million
- MT-SEN: $46 million
- WV-SEN: $44 million
Top 10 House races
- PA-1: $24 million
- WA-8: $23 million
- CA-48: $21.5 million
- MI-8: $21 million
- VA-10: $20 million
- FL-26: $20 million
- CA-25: $19.7 million
- TX-7: $19.4 million
- CA-10: $19.3 million
- CO-6: $18.9 million
Top 9 GOV races
- FL-GOV: $181 million
- IL-GOV: $128 million
- OH-GOV: $63 million
- MI-GOV: $58 million
- GA-GOV: $48 million
- NV-GOV: $44 million
- TN-GOV: $41 million
- PA-GOV: $28 million
- ID-GOV: $6.4 million