According to AdImpact, an ad-tracking firm, the 2024 federal election cycle is already surpassing the 2020 cycle by $200 million. As of May 26, a total of $382.65 million has been spent in the current cycle, compared to $182.99 million during the 2020 election cycle.
According to Inside Radio, AdImpact’s latest update states, “Spending has been more consistent in the current cycle than in 2020 across the board, as there has been a wide variety of competitive elections already in 2023.”
The increase in spending can be attributed to a larger number of candidates in the field. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), who announced his presidential bid this month, has already spent $5 million on ad buys. Most of these ads were targeted at early state voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, with a focus on the Boston and Des Moines markets.
Overall, AdImpact reveals that the 2024 presidential contest is already outpacing spending from four years ago by almost a third. At this point in the 2020 presidential election cycle, $24 million had been spent, whereas $37.1 million has been spent so far in the current race.
Former President Donald Trump and his affiliated political action committee, MAGA Inc., have collectively spent $15.7 million. Another Republican issue group supportive of Trump has also made significant expenditures. Never Back Down and MAGA Inc. have each spent at least $10.8 million. Trump and groups aligned with him account for 71% of all presidential spending thus far. Additionally, two other Republican advertisers, Perry Johnson and Vivek Ramaswamy, have each spent over one million dollars.
In contrast, President Biden has invested $3.7 million in ad buys. While the presidential race garners most of the attention, 2023 has witnessed five elections with ad spending exceeding $10 million. This contrasts with just one such occurrence in 2019. The most expensive race was the Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, which saw over $40 million in spending. The Philadelphia mayor’s race primary ranked second, with $36 million spent, followed by the Chicago mayoral contest. The Kentucky gubernatorial primary and the Jacksonville, FL primary also exceeded $10 million in ad spending.
AdImpact’s report also reveals an increase in issue spending during 2023, although at a slower rate compared to candidate spending. A total of $145 million has been spent on issue ads thus far in the current cycle, marking a 97% increase from four years ago. This is lower than the 172% increase in spending on standard election ads, which rose from $88 million to $239 million. Healthcare issues have experienced significant growth, with spending in this area rising by $11.9 million between 2019 and 2023.