warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Election Ad Spending Nears $1 Billion

Sophie Elkus |
October 17, 2012 | 3:29 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

Obama and Romney have spent a combined $807 million. Barack Obama, Creative Commons
Obama and Romney have spent a combined $807 million. Barack Obama, Creative Commons
At the rate election advertising is going, the campaigns are on pace to hit $1 billion, according to an NBC analysis.

So far, $807 million has been spent on ads for radio and television, including local, national, cable and broadcast. The Obama campaign is one ad away from reaching $300 million alone, but with outside money added, Romney’s campaign is still outspending Obama $455 million to $352 million, NBC reported.

States seeing the most spending are Florida, Ohio and Virginia. The three account for a whopping $452 million. Ohio is competing with Florida for the top spender, but Florida still leads at $166 million. Ohio follows at $160 million, and Virginia at $126 million.

Colorado, Iowa, and Wisconsin are also on the rise, as Colorado recently passed North Carolina as the state with the fourth largest amount of money spent on ads. Colorado has seen $72 million spent so far.

Although polls show the race tightening in Pennsylvania and Michigan, minimal funds are being spent in either state. Neither Obama nor Romney’s campaigns have spent money at all in Michigan. Obama targeted Pennsylvania early on in the race with $5 million.

Reach Sophie here.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.