Buttigieg and Biden haven’t invested in any ads in the crucial Super Tuesday states: WSJ analysis

Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Vice President Joe Biden have yet to spend any money on ads in Super Tuesday states as the important March 3 date grows closer. 

According to ad tracker Kantar/CMAG, the only candidates that have spent sizable amounts of ad money in Super Tuesday states are Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and billionaires Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have spent some money on advertising in the 14 states, though the sum of their spending combined is less than $2 million, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Sanders has paid for $11 million worth of ads, a modest number in comparison to Bloomberg’s $156 million and Steyer’s $37 million in ad spending in Super Tuesday states.

Sanders’s fundraising prowess helped him raise $25 million in January alone, allowing him to spend competitively with Steyer and Bloomberg, both of whom supplement their campaign accounts with their own personal fortunes. 

The lack of spending for both Buttigieg and Biden in Super Tuesday states is unsurprising considering the amount of money each of the candidates had on hand going into the Iowa caucuses in the beginning of February.

Prior to the contest, Buttigieg clocked less than $7 million on hand, Biden just over $7 million and Klobuchar and Warren less than $3 million, according to the paper.

Biden in particular has had campaign fundraising issues in the past, and bundlers for the camp have anticipated further problems with donations given his lackluster finishes in both the Iowa and New Hampshire nominating contests earlier this month. 

Buttigieg specifically has executed a high-risk, high-reward strategy. His campaign poured $14 million into Iowa and New Hampshire in January. The results were strong, with the former mayor virtually tying Sanders in Iowa and narrowly coming in second place in New Hampshire.

However, the former mayor’s money dump seemed to have emptied his campaign’s coffers. On Thursday Buttigieg sent an email to supporters saying that he needs to raise $13 million by Super Tuesday to remain competitive.

Warren reportedly raised more than $10 million in January, but spend $23 million. The imbalance caused her campaign to dip into $400,000 of a $3 million line of credit, but according to her campaign the move “ultimately wasn’t necessary.”

Warren received a bump thanks to a strong primary debate performance in Las Vegas Wednesday, raising nearly $3 million that day.

Additionally, Klobuchar raised $5.5 million in January and Biden raised $9 million, but like many of their fellow candidates they spent more than they brought in — $7.6 million and $11 million, respectively.