We don’t know yet who will win Tuesday’s election and be sworn into office in January. Still, there are already some clear winners and losers in this year’s cycle. Let’s start with the winners:
Television networks
More than $10.5 billion was spent on advertising this season, with the bulk of it on television. Ad spending is up a billion dollars from 2020, barely more than a 10% increase in the four most inflationary years since the 1970s, making political advertising a bargain compared to the price increases for groceries. Democrats spent $5 billion on ads compared to $4.1 for Republicans. In 23 states, voters were bombarded with more than $100 million worth of ads. Pennsylvania stands out as the top winner with more than $1.5 billion in ad spending, the first time any state has topped the billion-dollar mark.
