Trump being outspent 2-to-1 on TV ads

Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and its largest outside supporter are outspending Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his allies by a nearly 2-to-1 margin on television ads this week as voters begin heading to the polls in battleground states.

The Clinton campaign and Priorities USA Action, the super PAC backing Clinton’s bid for president, are spending $29.3 million across 15 battleground states this week, according to ad buyers watching the market. Trump’s campaign and supportive outside groups are spending $15.8 million in 12 battleground states. 

{mosads}In swing states the Trump campaign has to win in order to capture the White House, the Clinton campaign has a massive edge. 

On Tuesday, Trump called Florida “a must-win.” His campaign and its allies are spending $4.3 million on advertising there this week — about half of the $8.4 million Democratic groups are spending. Clinton’s campaign alone is dropping $5.8 million on Florida airwaves, where more than 1.6 million people have already voted by absentee ballot or in person.

Democrats are spending $4.5 million in Ohio this week, nearly twice the $2.3 million Republicans will spend. In Pennsylvania, another state that will decide Trump’s fate, Democrats are spending $4.1 million, more than double the $1.8 million spent by Republican groups. 

In Nevada, where polls until recently showed Trump running competitively, the Clinton campaign and Priorities PAC are spending $3 million — three times the amount Trump and the National Rifle Association (NRA) have booked. 

Democrats enjoy more than a $1 million spending edge in Iowa and an almost $2 million edge in North Carolina.

Trump’s campaign enjoys a spending edge only in states where Clinton, the Democratic nominee, is not on television at all. Trump is spending $726,000 on advertising in Colorado, $500,000 in Virginia and $515,000 in Wisconsin this week — all states where polls show Clinton cruising to a win.

The Clinton campaign is making a concerted push in Arizona, a reliably red state where polls show a surprisingly close contest. This week, Clinton’s team is spending just over $1 million on television and radio in the Phoenix and Tucson media markets. Trump’s campaign has not advertised in Arizona, though the candidate himself has appeared at six rallies across the state during the general election. 

Priorities USA Action began an ad blitz last week in another usually red state, Georgia. The PAC will spend a total of $879,000 on airtime in the Albany, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Macon and Savannah media markets by Election Day, including $353,000 this week alone. 

Trump’s unorthodox campaign has relied much more heavily on earned media than on paid advertising — a strategy that worked during the Republican primaries but might fall short during the general election. So far, the Clinton campaign has booked $163 million in television, cable and radio ads, while Trump’s campaign has spent only $76 million on the airwaves.

Clinton’s campaign has also received far more outside help than Trump’s team. The Priorities PAC has spent more than $110 million on advertising to date, while Trump has only been able to rely on a handful of NRA affiliates and a few local political action committees.