Florida tops nation in U.S. Senate race ad spending

More money is being spent on TV advertising in Florida’s U.S. Senate race than anywhere else in the country. And the state is No. 2 in ad spending in the governor’s race, but could easily take the top spot in coming months.

The figures come from NBC News, which regularly reports ad spending data from Advertising Analytics.

Senate race ad spending in Florida through July 9 is $26.2 million, NBC reported Wednesday.

Gov. Rick Scott, who can’t run for re-election because of term limits and is challenging U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., started an early barrage of TV ads.

No. 2 in Senate ad spending is Indiana, at $21.4 million, and Wisconsin at $17.1 million.

The most expensive ad campaign for governor so far is Illinois, at $76 million.

Florida is No. 2, at $41.8 million, followed by Tennessee, at $21.2 million, NBC reported.

One reason for Illinois’ top ranking is the state had its primary elections in March. Florida’s primaries aren’t until Aug. 28, and some of the seven candidates for the two parties’ nominations haven’t been heavily advertising until recently.

And the NBC figures show how much of the action is in the Interstate 4 corridor that runs across the central part of the state.

The top TV market so far in 2018 is Chicago, $50.3 million, followed by Los Angeles, $32.3 million.

Next is the Orlando/Daytona Beach/Melbourne market, $19.9 million, and the Tampa/St. Petersburg /Sarasota market, $18 million.