The first week of October was dominated by presidential campaign ads, with Democrats outselling Republicans $88.9 million to $51.3 million, totaling more than $140 million in ads surprising voters in just seven days.
Meanwhile, ad spending continues to flow in several potentially crucial run-off races for control of Congress, with the overarching goal set by each party heading into the final four-week sprint. It shows how you strategize and manage your resources.
Let’s take a quick look at some of these top contests.
Senate top races
Ohio’s Senate race saw the most ad spending outside of the presidential race, totaling just over $39 million in the first week of October, with Republicans outspending Democrats by about $21.3 million to $17.7 million.
Pennsylvania’s Senate race ranked third in ad spending in the first week of October (second week excluding the presidential election), and both parties are also in a close race on the airwaves in the Keystone State, with Republicans spending about 1,010 points in that section. Democrats spent about $9.9 million.
Another key Senate race, Montana, ranks fourth in total ad spending this week (ahead of the presidential election) as Democrats defend Sen. Jon Tester against fierce political headwinds in the typically red state. (3rd place if excluding this). The contest saw $18.2 million worth of advertising spent in the first week of the month, with Democrats narrowly outspending Republicans with $9.5 million to $8.7 million.
More than $10 million in advertising was spent in the first week of October in four other key Senate races (Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona).
top house lace
In Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, a battleground district where both parties are in constant battle to replace Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is running for the U.S. Senate, 400 votes were cast in two House races in the first week of October. Millions of dollars worth of advertising money was spent. And in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, which covers much of metro Phoenix, Republicans are defending Rep. David Schweikert, who narrowly won in 2022.
Nine other highly competitive House races saw more than $3 million in advertising spent in the first week of the final month. That includes a series of races in California (CA-22, CA-27, CA013). One of those is CA-27, where Republicans outspent Democrats by about $1.4 million. And in CA-45, another important California House race, Republicans dramatically outspent Democrats by more than $2 million out of a total of about $2.5 million.
Additionally, four key New York House races also ranked among the top-spending contests during the first week of October.
