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The 2024 election brought on political advertising that was labeled as “unprecedented” in the lead-up to Election Day. New AdImpact data shows just how big it was.
In total, $10.86 billion was spent on political advertising throughout the 2024 election cycle. That figure represented an uptick compared to the $8.47 billion during the 2020 election season.
“The pace of spending in the Presidential general election was largely defined by Biden’s historic decision to exit the race,” AdImpact shared. “Between July 22nd and Election Day, the Presidential election saw $2.3 billion in political spending. Over that time, Democrats held a nearly $460 million spending advantage.”
It wasn’t simply the race for the White House that propelled the record spending. Senate races were also large drivers. For instance, in Ohio, the election between Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and challenger and eventual winner Bernie Moreno (R) was the most expensive Senate race in history, with $477 million was spent on that race alone. In total, $2.6 billion was spent on Senate elections.
U.S. House of Representatives races tallied $1.68 billion in political advertising during the cycle. Additionally, digital saw a large portion of election spending. From when Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race until election day, $420 million was spent in the digital sphere, accounting for 18% of all spending.
