Some Labor Day weekend reads
…and the latest online ad spending numbers from both sides of the aisle
Happy Friday, and we hope you are getting an early start to a restful Labor Day weekend! In honor of the holiday, this week’s issue of FWIW is a little abbreviated. We’ll be back to regular programming with a full deep dive next week!
By the numbers
FWIW, political advertisers spent just over $7.4 million on Facebook and Instagram ads last week. These were the top ten spenders nationwide:
The Biden campaign was once again the top-spending political advertiser on Facebook and Instagram last week. To date, the President’s re-election team has spent over $4.5 million advertising on these platforms. While the majority of their spending has been focused on grassroots fundraising, we saw that last week they began promoting this video ad to Black voters in the critical swing states of North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Arizona.
At the same time, the Trump campaign spent around $70,000 on Facebook ads last week reminding his supporters that he has been indicted with ads reading “NOT GUILTY” in big, bold letters.
We pulled together a chart that breaks down weekly digital ad spending between the two likely general election campaigns. Check it out on Threads here >>
Meanwhile, political campaigns spent $1.7 million on Google and YouTube ads last week. Here were the top ten spenders nationwide:
Senate Democrats continue to boost Sen. Joe Manchin in West Virginia as they hope and pray he runs for re-election instead of launching a quixotic spoiler presidential campaign. On Monday, Senate Majority PAC’s Duty & Honor began running this ad on YouTube:
The plot thickens: Manchin continues to play coy about his plans next year, but this week, the Wall Street Journal scooped that he and his daughter (a pharmaceutical executive) are creating a $100 million dark money nonprofit to promote centrist candidates.
…and on Snapchat, political campaigns and organizations in the United States have spent around $1.6 million on advertising in 2023. Here are the top ten spenders YTD:
Your 2024 digital dispatch
FWIW, here’s how much money likely or confirmed 2024 presidential candidates have spent on Facebook + Google ads to date (1/1 - 8/26):
Perhaps after reading FWIW last week, rapper Eminem told Vivek Ramaswamy to cease and desist.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez became the first GOP presidential candidate to drop out of the 2024 race.
There’s been an under-the-radar conversation happening in Washington and elsewhere that if Trump’s rivals continue to build support this fall, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin could jump in at the last minute in December or January and mount a last-ditch effort to consolidate support and become the nominee. But a new poll of Virginia GOP primary voters clearly shows that is a pipe dream.
Labor Day weekend reads:
We’re already off for a brief vacation, but here are a few important articles published in the past week that you should check out if you have time this weekend:
What happened to the TikTok ban? (Semafor, 8/30)
Why the 2024 race is neck and neck right now (Message Box, 8/29)
How Trump’s Election Lies Left the Michigan G.O.P. Broken and Battered (NYT, 8/28)
A desperate appeal to newsroom leaders on the eve of a chaos election (PressWatchers, 8/30)
Where Are the GOP Heroes Now? (The Bulwark, 8/30)
When news outlets hand megaphones to menaces (COURIER, 8/28)
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