IT 'ADS' UP FA$T
$1B in midterm elex spending
The upcoming midterm elections will be the most expensive in US history, with $1 billion in TV ads already booked or aired.
With the Republicans holding narrow majorities in both the Senate and House, the parties are locked in close combat three months ahead of Election Day.
“This is President Donald Trump’s first re-elect,” former White House strategist Steve Bannon told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Friday. “This is gonna be an up-or-down vote. It’s a referendum on the Trump presidency.”
At least $170 million has been spent on television spots for Senate primaries, The Hill reported on Saturday.
Democrats and the Republicans have reserved $230 million worth of ads in states like Nevada, where GOP Sen. Dean Heller could lose his seat to a Democratic challenger, and Missouri, where Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill is trying to hold on to constituents who voted for Trump by a 19-point margin.
With a solid chance of winning back the House in November, Democrats have committed $135 million in ads for the party’s candidates, while the defending Republicans plan to spend at least $146 million.
Heated primary fights in states like California also drove up spending on gubernatorial races, with $250 million already spent on media buys.
And at least $90 million worth of ads have been booked for governors’ races in the coming weeks.
All told, that’s a staggering $1.02 billion on TV advertising alone. Add in costs for staff, polling, field offices and fundraising, says the Center for Responsive Politics, and the total spent on the major races this cycle balloons to $1.6 billion.
Currently, the GOP has a large funding advantage over the Democratic Party.
And Trump says he will fork over plenty of political capital to help Republicans hold on to Congress.
“I am going to work very hard, I will go six or seven days a week when we’re 60 days out,” he said Friday.
This is President Donald Trump’s first re-elect . . . It’s a referendum on the Trump presidency. Steve Bannon (left)