A recent report has revealed that the Harris-Walz campaign and its Democratic allies spent nearly $1.4 billion on political ads in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat President-elect Trump. This spending outpaced the 45th president and Republicans by almost $460 million. Vice President Harris faced a significant defeat to Trump, who made a remarkable comeback after losing to President Joe Biden in 2020. Trump's victory was declared by Fox News after winning Wisconsin, a state he narrowly lost in the previous election.
Harris entered the race in July following President Biden's decision to step down after securing his party's nomination. This sparked a surge in spending from both sides. From July 22 to Election Day, the presidential election saw a total of $2.29 billion in political spending. Democrats held a nearly $460 million spending advantage, with $1.37 billion spent on ads compared to the Republicans' $913.9 million.
The battleground states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Georgia, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Michigan saw the bulk of this spending, with $1.8 billion allocated to these states. Pennsylvania alone received $494.3 million in ad spending, with Democrats outspending Republicans by $261.9 million to $232.4 million in that state. Democrats also outspent Republicans in each battleground state, according to the report.
The most referenced issue during the election was taxation, with nearly 498,000 airings, 75% of which were by the Harris campaign. Immigration was the most referenced issue by the Trump campaign, while abortion was the sixth most referenced issue overall.
The pace of spending in the election was influenced by Biden's decision to drop out of the race, with spending increasing significantly following his announcement. Ultimately, Democrats outspent Republicans $1.6 billion to $993 million between Super Tuesday and Election Day. Florida, which saw the most spending in the final 60 days of the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, experienced a drastic drop in spending in the last 60 days of the 2024 election, highlighting the Trump campaign's confidence in winning the state.