Presidential Ad Spending in Wisconsin

 Data from

                                
     
Spending on Presidential Advertising in Wisconsin, May 1-Nov. 3, 2020      
Total $128.8 million

Summary: $128.8 million put Wisconsin at sixth in total spending on presidential advertising from May 1 to Nov. 3 behind FL, PA, NC, MI and AZ.  The Biden campaign outspent the Trump campaign in Wisconsin by more than 3 to 1, $38.0 million to $11.3 million.  Interest group spending was more balanced: $41.3 million by Biden allies to $32.0 million by Trump allies.  Seven groups spent more than $1 million on advertising supporting Biden, led by Future Forward ($10.1 million), Priorities USA Action ($9.6 million) and American Bridge 21st Century ($9.0 million).  Five groups spent more than $1 million on advertising supporting Trump, led by America First Action ($17.8 million).  All told, Biden and allies outspent Trump and allies in Wisconsin by $36.1 million, a very significant difference but not nearly as lopsided as in neighboring Michigan.  To put total Wisconsin ad spending in context, dividing the $128.8 million by 10 electoral votes gives a figure of $12.88 per electoral vote; Biden and allies spent $8.23 million and Trump and allies $4.62 million per electoral vote.  Dividing by 3,298,041 votes tallied in the presidential race in Wisconsin gives a figure of $39.05 per vote; Biden and allies spent $50.48 per Biden vote and Trump and allies spent $28.72 per Trump vote. 

These data cover spending on advertising on electronic media (broadcast, cable, radio, digital and satellite) but do not include other types of paid media such as billboards, print advertising and persuasion mail.
Data on this page do not show "independent" ads which account for a tiny amount of spending (less than 0.1%).  "Independent" ads includes ads from third party presidential candidates and other small mostly digital buys from various groups.
Also note that groups such as The Lincoln Project and Republican Voters Against Trump, although organized by Republicans and thus nominally Republican, are included under Democrat (Biden/Allies) spending since their purpose was to attack Trump.

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Presidential Ad Spending by Month, May 1-Nov. 3, 2020

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Presidential Ad Spending by Advertiser Type, May 1-Nov. 3, 2020

 Biden and Allies
 Trump and Allies
Candidate
 		$37,974,546
 $11,317,870
Coordinated
 		$3,023,196
 $2,964,612
Interest Group
 $41,321,309
 $31,964,227
Total
 		$82,319,051
 		$46,246,709


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Top Presidential Ad Spending Groups, May 1-Nov. 3, 2020
Supporting Biden  $41.3m

Supporting Trump  $32.0m
Future Forward
 		 $10,139,416
America First Action
 		$17,768,075
Priorities USA Action
 		$9,662,200
Preserve America PAC
 		$4,874,835
American Bridge 21st Century
 $9,029,162
Restoration PAC
 $4,297,632
Unite the Country
 		$3,072,142
Club for Growth Action
 		$2,244,912
DNC
 		$2,095,967
NRA Victory Fund
 $1,096,339
The Lincoln Project
 		$1,180,605


Defending Democracy Together
 $1,034,069


Note: DNC spending in this list is independent spending, as opposed to coordinated expenditures.
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Presidential Ad Spending by Media Type, May 1-Nov. 3, 2020
Biden/Allies $82,319,051

Candidate
 		Coordinated
 		Interest Group
Broadcast
 		$23,759,193
 $763,360
 $28,243,633
Cable
 		$9,714,356
 $265,701
 $6,468,229
Radio
 		$1,549,535
 -
 $1,290,301
Digital
 		$1,669,930
 $1,944,135
 $5,182,691
Satellite
 		$1,281,531
 -
 $136,456
Total
 $37,974,546
 $3,023,196
 $41,321,309



Trump/Allies $46,246,709

Candidate
 		Coordinated
 		Interest Group
Broadcast
 		$8,156,314
 $942,128
 $24,704,875
Cable
 		$241,331
 -
 $5,414,383
Radio
 		$165,667
 -
 $567,395
Digital
 		$2,645,033
 $2,022,484
 $1,001,240
Satellite
 		$109,525
 -
 $276,334
Total
 $11,317,870
 $2,964,612
 $31,964,227


Of $128.8 million presidential ad spending in Wisconsin, $86.6 million (67.2%) was on broadcast, $22.1 million (17.2%) on cable, $14.5 million (11.3%) on digital, $3.57 million (2.8%) on radio, and $1.80 million (1.4%) on satellite. 

Comparing ad spending by just the two campaigns...
Biden: Broadcast (62.5%), cable (25.6%), radio (4.1%), digital (4.4%), satellite (3.3%).
Trump: Broadcast (72.1%), cable (2.1%), radio (1.5%), digital (23.4%), satellite (0.97%).

As noted above, these data do not include other types of paid media such as billboards, print advertising and persuasion mail.


See:
–.  "Presidential race ad spending tops $126M in Wisconsin since April primary."  WisPolitics.com, Oct. 30, 2021.

Naomi Kowles.  "Wisconsin's place in the battleground states as Trump campaign pulls ad dollars away towards Pennsylvania, Florida."  Channel 3000, Oct. 20, 2020.

Bruce Murphy.  "Biden Buries Trump in State's TV ads."  Urban Milwaukee, Oct. 20, 2020.

 Press releases America First Action, misc.

Local Voices - Wisconsin ads

Newspaper ads
Milwaukee Community Journal                                El Conquistador (Milwaukee)

Full-page ad
Oct. 29, 2020
Oct. 23, 2020
Full-page ad
Oct. 15, 2020		 Full-page ad
Oct. 29, 2020		 Full-page ad
Oct. 29, 2020