President Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden and their allies have reserved more than a quarter billion dollars in television advertising time in the weeks leading up to November’s general election, bringing into focus what is likely to be the broadest set of swing states in recent history.
“It does seem like there will be a healthy number of contested states this time around, and there seems to be plenty of money out there to run these ads as well,” said Travis Ridout, a political scientist at Washington State University and a co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political ad spending.
The bulk of the spending on the Democratic side comes from Priorities USA, a super PAC that has already reserved almost $50 million in airtime from now until Election Day. The group has reserved tens of millions in airtime in 17 media markets across the same six states where Biden is focused, according to advertising data analyzed by The Hill.