Written by Nate Schwartz
The 2024 Ohio Senate race has already become 2024’s first non-Presidential race to eclipse $300M in spending and reservations. Not only is this the most expensive race in what is set to be the most costly cycle on record, it's also one of the most expensive races that AdImpact has tracked.
Excluding runoff elections in the three Georgia Senate races between 2020 and 2022, this year’s Ohio race is the most expensive, recently passing the 2022 Pennsylvania Senate race. The 2024 Ohio Senate race has been the product of a perfect storm for high ad spending: a contentious primary, a well-funded incumbent, and a toss-up rating by the Cook Political Report.
The primary saw $57M in ad spending in the primary, the third most of any 2024 Senate race and the eighth most expensive Senate primary on record. Matt Dolan (R) saw the most ad support in the primary, netting $19.9M, primarily from his campaign and group Buckeye Leadership Fund. Bernie Moreno (R), who won the Republican primary convincingly, got $15.9M in ad support from his campaign and Club for Growth Action. Meanwhile, incumbent Sherrod Brown made sure to compete on the airwaves: his campaign spent $6.6M. Democratic issue group Duty and Country spent $6M supporting Brown but also tied Moreno to former President Trump.
Now, in the general election, there is $267M in spending and reservations. While the majority of dollars are set to come in after August 12th, sizable ad spending occurred throughout the summer.
Democratic advertisers have held a $22.7M spending advantage in general election spending through August 12th. Both parties have seen similar amounts of issue group spending, but Brown has spent significantly more than Moreno. Democratic group Duty and Honor’s $28.7M represents 51% of Democratic spending, while Republican group One Nation’s $27.6M represents 82% of Republican spending. The Brown campaign has spent $27.6M, compared to Moreno's $875K.
So far, the top two airing broadcast ads have come from Duty and Honor, which feature an Ohio iron worker discussing Brown’s pension bill and Brown’s bipartisan work on the border in the Senate. The next highest-airing ad comes from the Brown campaign, focusing on his work capping insulin prices.
Meanwhile, the top airing ad from a Republican advertiser has only the tenth most-aired ad in the election so far. It comes from One Nation, and the ad mentions the border crisis and ties Brown to President Biden. The Moreno campaign has only aired two ads so far, but both heavily tie Brown to Biden as well.
Looking to the future, reservations from both parties are near equal: Republican advertisers have reserved $89.7M, and Democratic advertisers have reserved $87.0M. WinSenate (D) has reserved the most out of any advertiser, with $65.6M booked for the fall. Senate Leadership Fund (R) trails slightly with $56.0M, and American Crossroads (R) has reserved $24.4M. As for the candidates themselves, Brown has pre-booked $16.2M, and Moreno has pre-booked $1.1M.
