Battleground states hit with barrage of campaign ads

Presidential candidates zero in on ad blitz in swing states
Nearly $11 billion is predicted to be spent on political ads this year
Voter engagement up; over 1 million first-time voters registered this year

Updated: Sep 5, 2024 / 02:14 PM CDT

PITTSBURGH (NewsNation) — As November approaches, it’s becoming harder to avoid presidential campaign ads, especially for voters in key battleground states likely to determine the outcome of the race.

Voter engagement is rising; Vote.org, the nation’s largest voter registration organization, reports more than one million first-time voters have registered this year, nearly a quarter from swing states like Pennsylvania.

Political spending setting new records

Every election cycle sees record fundraising and ad spending, but this year is breaking those records.

At the start of summer, AdImpact projected $10.2 billion in political expenditures across broadcast, cable, radio, satellite and digital — a 13% increase from the previous record of $9.02B set during the 2019-2020 election cycle.

This estimate came before President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid and Vice President Kamala Harris raised more $500 million by the end of August.

Additionally, presidential spending is projected to receive $2.7B in political ad spending this cycle.

Across major swing states, candidates are heavily investing in ads. According to AdImpact, Democratic ad spending includes: