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Indiana spent more on political advertising this primary election than any other state in the nation.
According to an analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project, Indiana candidates have spent $8.8 million on ads this primary season. That’s $2 million more than the second place spender, Ohio.
Indiana also aired more political advertisements than any other state participating in the elections, coming in at just over 34,000 broadcast ads since January. GOP candidates have run approximately 21,000 campaign ads this election- 29,000 if you include ads by other political entities, such as Political Action Committees (PACs). By comparison, Indiana Democratic candidates have only run approximately 1,300 ads since January- 5000 if you add in support ads from Democratic political groups.
Travis Ridout is one of the co-directors of the Wesleyan Media Project and has been tracking campaign advertising records for the past several months. Ridout said it’s not surprising Indiana is seeing more spending from Republican candidates than Democratic ones. The increased spending on campaigns can be partially attributed to recent special elections across the country, which saw several Republicans lose their seats. Ridout said those loses galvanized an increase in Republican campaign spending. Campaign advertising expenditures this year are anticipated to be almost 90 percent more than in 2014, the last midterm primary election.
In Indiana, political groups, like PACS, make up a large portion of campaign advertising. According to the Wesleyan study, approximately one-third of all ads in Indiana this year were created by political groups. While some of these entities interact directly with political campaigns, many of them are considered unaffiliated and have no official contact with candidates.
Ridout said Hoosiers can expect even more political advertising during the 2018 general election than in past years. He said fewer advertisements will air during Summer, but residents can expect a steady increase in political ads as the general election gets closer. If this primary cycle has proved anything, he says, it’s that TV ads still dominate political advertising spending.
This primary election has been particularly brutal for Indiana’s GOP, which is seeing a three-way fight for the nomination of a Republican candidate for one of Indiana’s Senate seats. Congressmen Todd Rokita and Luke Messer, and former state representative Mike Braun, are competing to see who will run against Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly in this year’s general election.
As of May 3rd, the Republican candidates have spent a combined $5 million on radio and TV ad since January, according to the Indianapolis Star. Rokita and Messer both spent approximately $1.2 million, and Braun spent over $3 million on advertising.
