PACs dominate U.S. House midterm ads, plus sports betting propositions boost spending in California

Total campaign ad spending for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, gubernatorial and other races in the midterm elections has surged past $2.4 billion, according to the latest Ad Age Campaign Ad Scorecard analysis.

Campaign Ad Scorecard is part of Ad Age’s Campaign Trail coverage, a project of Ad Age Datacenter, led by Director of Data Management Kevin Brown in partnership with Kantar/CMAG.

An executive summary of—and essential context for—the charts you see below:

• The $2.4 billion midterm campaign ad total above includes TV, radio and tracked digital advertising from Dec. 28, 2021, through Election Day as of July 25, 2022. Our tallies include spending by the candidates’ campaigns and the political action committees supporting them, as well as selected local and state campaigns and issue-oriented campaigns supporting or opposing ballot measures.

• In the previous edition of Campaign Ad Scorecard, we focused on U.S. Senate campaign ad spending. In this week’s edition we’re shining a light on the U.S. House and the wild card of a couple high-profile California ballot initiative campaigns.

• The bottom line: Political action committees are totally dominating when it comes to bankrolling advertising surrounding U.S. House midterm races. Seven of the 10 biggest spenders are PACs, with the pro-Republican Congressional Leadership Fund at the top of the list with a $119 million outlay and the pro-Democrat House Majority PAC not far behind, at $87 million.

• Four of the top 10 spenders on U.S. House race advertising are pro-Republican PACs, with a combined outlay of $139 million so far.

• Three of the top 10 spenders on U.S. House race advertising are pro-Democrat PACs, with a combined outlay of $118 million so far.

• The sole individual politician in the top 10 U.S. House race spenders: Democrat Katie Porter, the U.S. representative from California’s 45th congressional district. Porter has chosen to seek reelection in the newly drawn 47th congressional district, which now includes Irvine, where she lives. In a June 7 nonpartisan primary, Porter placed first in the 47th congressional district, followed by Scott Baugh, a Republican and former member of the California State Assembly. California’s “top two” primary system means that Porter and Baugh will now face off in November’s general election. (The winner will replace Rep. Alan Lowenthal, a Democrat who has decided to retire.)

• Speaking of convoluted California politics, media owners and operators there are also seeing a major windfall thanks to Proposition 27, a measure to allow online sports betting. So far, three organizations have burned through a total of $118 million to strafe voters with advertising either supporting or opposing 27.

• The pro- and anti-27 groups are together closing in on raising a quarter billion dollars.

• Notably, three big national brand marketers in the gambling space—DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM—have been pouring money into the coffers of the pro-27 groups.

• Confusingly, another ballot initiative, California Proposition 26, aka Legalize Sports Betting on American Indian Lands Initiative, is also in play—and pro- and anti-26 groups have raised a combined $100 million to try to sway voters. While 27 is about online betting, 26 is about in-person wagering.

But enough about the Golden State political advertising windfall. To close out this edition of Campaign Ad Scorecard, a few more notes about nationwide totals:

• U.S. Senate campaign midterm ad spending now stands at $958 million, according to the latest Ad Age Campaign Ad Scorecard analysis. Republicans ($508 million) are outspending Democrats ($436 million). (The remaining $14 million in the tally covers independent candidates and issue-advocacy ads related to the Senate races.)

• U.S. House race campaign midterm ad spending stands at $534 million, with Republicans ($292 million) outspending Democrats ($242 million) and independents/issue-advocacy (effectively $0).

• Gubernatorial race campaign midterm ad spending accounts for $573 million of the total, with Republicans ($304 million, rounded) once again outspending Democrats ($264 million) and independents/issue-advocacy ($4 million).