Here’s How Much the Democratic Candidates Have Spent on TV Ads in Super Tuesday States
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Bloomberg has opened his checkbook for more than $66 million in California alone since November
Super Tuesday has led to a super amount of political TV advertising dollars being spent.
The campaigns for the four main Democratic contenders left in the race — Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg — have spent more than $200 million in TV ads in the 14 states, according to data from Advertising Analytics, a company that tracks political campaign advertising.
The 14 states heading to the polls Tuesday include California and Texas in what will be the largest single-day voting during the primary season. The other states are: North Carolina, Montana, Massachusetts, Colorado, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, Oklahoma, Utah, Arkansas, Maine and Vermont.
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has spent the most of any current candidate by far — Pete Buttigeig, Tom Steyer and Amy Klobuchar all dropped out following the South Carolina primary over the weekend — with nearly $185 million. Of that, Bloomberg has spent more than $66 million in California alone, with another $49 million in Texas.
After Bloomberg, Sanders’ campaign has spent $15 million across the 14 states, with $7 million earmarked for California. The Biden and Warren campaigns have each put forth $1.65 million (across 8 states) and $2 million (across 6 states). The pro-Warren Persist PAC, on the other hand, has spent $9 million across 10 states, with $3.6 million going to California.
Steyer, another billionaire businessman who spent a fortune on his own campaign, opened his wallet for more than $44 million — the majority of that went to California with nearly $33 million in the Golden State alone. He ended his candidacy on Saturday. As for the other now-former candidates: Buttigieg’s campaign spent $2.2 million and Klobuchar dropped $3.9 million (with the pro-Klobuchar Kitchen Table Conversations PAC adding an additional $824K).
Ad Analytics compiled its data from TV stations, which are required by the FCC to publicly disclose political spending. The data is from Nov. 25 (when Bloomberg announced his candidacy) through Tuesday.