Republicans spend $18M on Utah political ads
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Republican candidates accounted for 98% of Utah's political ad spending in the 10 months leading up to Election Day, per analytics platform AdImpact.
The intrigue: Republicans had a lock on every statewide and congressional race — so most of the $18.2 million they spent went toward ads in advance of the June primary.
- Within the Salt Lake metro — Utah's primary TV market — Republicans spent just $189,700 after Aug. 1.
The other side: Democrats spent $443,004 in Utah from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31. More than 70% of that was spent after Aug. 1 in the Salt Lake metro.
Follow the money: Nationally, Democratic campaigns and outside groups spent about $4.5 billion combined on ads, compared to about $3.5 billion for Republicans.
- Utah's share of ad spending for Republicans was exceeded only in Mississippi and Wyoming.
Context: These figures include spending around presidential, congressional and down-ballot races.
The big picture: All this ad spending has been a windfall for local TV stations, Axios' Sara Fischer reports.
- Meanwhile, many global democracies ban political advertising and similar activity in a pre-election "silence period," per Axios' April Rubin.