Republicans · Democrats · US Senate · Axios
Driving the news: Republicans opened up a large spending advantage in September
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Candidates get lower rates from broadcasters, meaning they get more airtime for fewer hard dollars than outside groups and super PACs.
Key facts
- From Sept. 1 through Sept. 17, Republican advertisers generated 502 million impressions in Texas, compared with 331 million for Democrats, according to data compiled by Kinetiq Political Insights
- In Ohio: Republican ads generated 406 million impressions supporting Sen
- The intrigue: North Carolina is the only key battleground where Republicans have been spending more for fewer impressions in the first weeks of September
- Republicans opened up a massive spending advantage in September, outspending Democrats on air in nearly every competitive Senate race
Summary
Republicans are starting to trounce Democrats in political spending across the Senate map, and that advantage is now showing up in one of the metrics campaigns care about most: impressions. Money matters in a campaign's closing weeks, but what campaigns are ultimately buying is voters' attention, and the price varies, depending on who is buying and when they place their ads. Beginning in September, campaigns and super PACs start competing for the same finite supply of advertising inventory. Republicans are generating substantially more impressions, an estimate of the number of times an ad is seen, but their advantage isn't nearly as large as the spending disparity would suggest. The intrigue: North Carolina is the only key battleground where Republicans have been spending more for fewer impressions in the first weeks of September.