The Obama and Romney campaigns, along with their respective Super PACs, have bought at least $93 million on ads in 11 states for nine days of TV time, according to a WKBT-TV/CNN report. Because of a large infusion of cash from Conservative-leaning super PACs, Republicans now are enjoying an advantage on the airwaves going into Election Day in the battlegrounds. Between this past Monday and Election Day, Mitt Romney and Republican groups supporting him have purchased $63.6 million of TV time while President Barack Obama and his allies will spend $30.2 million.
Romney’s campaign and several groups supporting his candidacy–Restore Our Future, American Crossroads, Americans for Prosperity and American Future Fund–are pouring in more than $6.6 million in these final days into Pennsylvania hoping to make the state competitive. Both Romney and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, will be making campaign stops in the state over the weekend. A recent poll there showed the president with a 4% advantage over Romney.
Obama campaign officials say they are confident of victory in Pennsylvania, which has been a reliably blue state, but add they will not cede any state and have bought $2.75 million in ads to run there. As evidence of the increased attention, for example, viewers in the Harrisburg area saw about 12 ads within approximately an hour’s time Thursday evening.
Viewers in the toss-up states have complained about being inundated with continuous ads for months, and the last minute spending will mean the saturation will only increase until Election Day.
When you directly compare spending just by the campaigns, Obama’s $26 million outpaces Romney’s $22 million for the final week of the campaign.
Here is a breakdown of the Obama and Romney ad buy totals:
Obama and Allies – Romney and Allies
Colorado – $2.4 million – $3.6 million
Florida – $5.5 million – $6.2 million
Iowa – $1.7 million – $4.8 million
Michigan – $ 329,000 – $3.2 million
New Hampshire – $2.1 million – $3.2 million
North Carolina – $ 984,000 – $1.9 million
Nevada – $1.7 million – $3.1 million
Pennsylvania – $2.7 million – $6.6 million
Ohio – $6.3 million – $12.7 million
Virginia – $3.7 million – $ 9.8 million
Wisconsin – $2.3 million – $ 7.3 million
See the WKBT-TV/CNN report here
