22 Nov The 2022 Georgia Senate Race Was Ridiculously Expensive
Attention Georgians! Did you know that we made the list of the top 5 most expensive Senate races of 2022? The recent, relentless political advertisements that have been infiltrating our media outlets came at a price much greater than that of inevitable consumer irritation. Astronomical amounts of money were spent on the 2022 Senate races.
According to OpenSecrets, the top 5 most expensive Senate races of 2022 were Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Ohio.
Top 5 Most Expensive Senate Races of 2022
Pennsylvania: $373,605,258
Georgia: $271,351,786
Arizona: $234,577,515
Wisconsin: $205,791,615
Ohio: $202,117,075
Collectively, these Senate races have seen roughly $1.3 billion in spending across the primary and general elections. This figure showcases the absurd amounts of money pulsing through the political system.
How does this compare to the ad spending of leading advertisers? By comparing the projected annualized equivalent political spend to the annual ad spend of leading national advertisers, one can understand the true enormity of the above sum. As an Atlanta native and Georgia resident, I decided to calculate the projected annualized equivalent political spend using the cost of the 2022 Georgia Senate race, some $271 million.
Calculating the Annualized Equivalent Political Spend
The population of the United States stands around 330 million. The population of the state of Georgia is approximately 10.8 million, or 3.2% of the entire U.S. population. That means that approximately 1 out of every 31.25 people in the United States reside in the state of Georgia. With these numbers in mind, we can calculate the projected annualized equivalent political spend using the cost of Georgia’s 2022 Senate race.
Georgia spent approximately $271 million on the 2022 Senate race over the course of 3 months. Assuming that this number stays consistent over the entire year, the projected annualized equivalent political spend comes out to roughly $34.6 billion.
Who Were the Leading Advertisers of 2019?
According to AdAge’s Leading National Advertisers 2020 Fact Pact, the top 5 most-advertised brands of 2019 were GEICO, Amazon, Progressive, Verizon, and AT&T. These brands were ranked by U.S. measured-media spending.
Leading Advertisers of 2019
Ranked by U.S. Measured-Media Spending
GEICO: $1.6B
Amazon: $1.5B
Progressive: $1.1B
Verizon: $864M
AT&T: $844M
How Do the 2019 Leading Advertisers’ Annual Ad Spend Compare to the Projected Annualized Equivalent Political Spend?
The 2022 elections are record-breaking in that they are considered the most expensive midterm elections yet. Candidates and political action committees spent close to $17 billion on state and federal campaigns, according to NPR. This is not surprising, as the projected annualized equivalent political spend is roughly $34.6 billion, if calculated using the cost of Georgia’s 2022 Senate race: $271 million over a 3 month period. Comparing the projected annualized equivalent political spend to the annual ad spend of leading advertisers truly delineates just how much money is being spent on U.S. politics.
For example, In 2019 GEICO ranked as the most-advertised brand for a 4th year in a row. The auto insurance company spent roughly $1.6 billion in U.S. measured-media spending that year. In comparison to the $34.6 billion projected annualized political spend, this is small potatoes. To put this into perspective, $1.6 billion is roughly 4.6% of $34.6 billion. This means that GEICO would have needed to spend more than 21 times the amount of money they spent on advertising in 2019 to compete with the projected annualized equivalent political spend I calculated using the cost of the 2022 Georgia Senate race.
What are Your Thoughts?
With the top 5 most expensive 2022 Senate races all breaking $200 million, it is no surprise that the 2022 elections are the most expensive midterm elections yet. Why do you think that is? Do you think that the 2022 midterm elections will shape the future of political ad spending?
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments! If you are interested in reading or listening to more industry-specific content, sign up for our newsletter!
No Comments