Money, money, money
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This week on Up First we talk about the economy. Trucks, trains, and tractors run on diesel, which is now priced at record highs, with less than fifty days until the midterm elections. So the next six weeks are gonna be intense. Let Up First get you through it one morning at a time with three stories you need to know each day. Listen to Up First on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
It's that time of year again. You know, the leaves are changing, football's on, and if you're watching TV, you're getting inundated with campaign ads. A lot of those ads, they're from Republicans who are planning to spend a lot of money in the next couple weeks. Will it matter? It's the MPR Politics Podcast. I'm Miles Parks, I cover voting. I'm
Ashley Lopez, I cover politics. And I'm Tam Rake, I also cover politics.
And Tam, let's just start with the numbers. Walk us through the financial landscape for both parties as we head into the kind of key midterm season.
Yeah, let's talk about ad spending, or rather, reservations. So this is money we expect them to spend on ads between September first and election day and I'm getting all of this information from Ad Impact, uh, which is a tracking firm that tracks advertising. And the numbers are pretty stunning. Right now, based on reservations between now and election day, Republicans are set to outspend Democrats on air nationwide up and down the ballot by about $360 million. Now, these are just reservations, and those can change, they can move money around, they can add more, and I expect that they will.
Okay, so three hundred and sixty million dollars, that's the difference between how much Republicans are expected to spend at this point compared to Democrats.
Yes. And so so that is in ad spending. And and just to give you a little more detail on where some of that is coming from, President Trump and his allied super PACs, uh, that's MAGA Inc. and then some new ones that have sprung up. including something called no going back pack and safety and affordability pack. You know, they have a a a less Trumpy name than MAGA Inc., but all told combined, they have a hundred and sixty-five million dollars worth of ad spending booked between now and election day. And most of that is in the next few weeks. Um, so it's really, really significant. It is a lot of money.
So talk to me a little bit more about where this money is getting spent then.
Well, it's interesting because it's the obvious swing states and swing races, the places where you'd expect it to be spent. But they're also spending money on a lot of Republican territory, places that President Trump won quite easily in 2024. That includes the Ohio Senate race, which is getting a lot of spending, the Texas Senate race, which is getting just an absolute ton of spending. Um, and Republicans are vastly outspending Democrats there. Yeah. A lot of this is reaching into very red areas, very Republican areas, congressional districts, Senate races, where, you know, in a different year, but this is not a different year, in a different year, Republicans wouldn't have to spend any money or very little money on Texas, and they're going to be spending a just an absolute boatload of money on Texas.
It has to be strange for you, Ashley, as somebody who lived in Texas to hear all of this money flowing in to help Republicans there.
Look, this is a fiverl on fire for Republicans. They have to start spending money because the polls have been so bad. Week after week, the situation has been looking more dire for them, including in Texas, which yes, is is surprising. I mean, this is a state that's had uniparty control for over three decades. Republicans have been uh shutting out democrats of all state wide office for a very long time. But the atmosphere right now, the situation that Republicans find themselves coming into November is very dire. And they you know, they are very uh well positioned with money, but they are not well positioned on topics. They do have some advantages besides money, which is uh we've talked about redistricting a lot.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–4:44
2
What’s the overall landscape of ad spending for the 2024 midterms?
4:44–7:40
3
How much more are Republicans expected to spend on TV ads than Democrats?
7:40–13:28
4
Which swing states and races are attracting the biggest Republican ad buys?
13:28–18:35
5
Why is Texas becoming a major battleground for Republican super‑PAC money?
18:35–23:07