Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has leveraged her popularity and used digital advertising to build a grassroots machine that can fund not only her own campaign but can also fund other progressive candidates running for Congress. Since the start of 2019, AOC has spent $1.4M on various direct response campaigns, ads like the ones below asking viewers for their support. Like many of her Democratic peers, she has placed great emphasis on her grassroots support and has even used her average donation as a marketing tool. She has also capitalized on her break from the DCCC and the establishment, turning it into a digital fundraising push.
AOC Digital Creatives and Spending Trends
AOC has spent more on digital in 2019-2020 than any other congressional candidate. Since January 2019, she has spent about $1M more than Kevin McCarthy who has the highest digital spending of any republican in Congress. With $1.9M in cash on hand, she has the means to push her agenda and will likely continue to dominate digital spending. As her PAC chooses progressive candidates to support, it will be worth watching how their digital expenditures stack up.
