Presidential contenders, and the super-PACs that support them, have spent millions on TV ads in a key Iowa media market ahead of the state’s Feb. 1 caucus.
The 2016 election has brought in more than $6.5 million in TV ads from a candidate or a super-PAC to the Des Moines market, according to a breakdown from The Guardian. That totals more than 12,900 TV spots from campaigns and the outside groups.
{mosads}TV executives told The Guardian, which studied spending in the town’s four main stations, that the super-PAC spending in the early-voting state is at record levels.
On the Democratic side, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is outspending Hillary Clinton’s campaign and has played more TV spots in Des Moines — $603,973 for 1,862 spots compared to $522,025 by Clinton for 1,687 commercials.
Recent polls have the two candidates neck-in-neck in Iowa. In a Bloomberg/Des Moines Register poll released last week Clinton had a 2-point lead, with 42 percent to Sanders’s 40 percent.
Meanwhile, on the Republican side, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is leading the crowded field in spending for the market. His campaign and super-PACs have spent a total of $1,926,975 for 3,373 ads in Des Moines, according to The Guardian’s data.
That’s significantly more than GOP front-runner Donald Trump or Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is coming in a close second behind the businessman in Iowa.
Trump has spent $218,840 for 828 TV ads in the Des Moines market. Cruz, or his super-PAC, have spent $819,610 for 737 spots.
Trump is expected to campaign in the state this week ahead of its caucus, with stops scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as Saturday and Sunday.