More than 800 different advertisers hit the airwaves to influence the makeup of the 113th Congress, according to an analysis by ad-tracking firm Kantar Media CMAG. The Senate and House races that drew the highest numbers of advertisers—28 and 15, respectively—were both open-seat contests featuring multiple candidates competing for their respective nominations, party advertising on behalf of the nominees, and heavy targeting by outside groups.
SenateOne hundred ninety-five different sponsors advertised on broadcast television in US Senate races last cycle. In other words, in addition to sponsors as prolific as Crossroads GPS and Majority PAC, which advertised in most competitive Senate races, 193 others also advertised.
The average number of TV advertisers in a Senate race was 11. That’s how many hit the air in the Texas open-seat race to replace retiring incumbent Kay Bailey Hutchison (R), with most of the advertising action there coming in the primaries and Republican run-off.
The highest number of advertisers for any Senate contest, 28, participated in the race for the seat held by, and then lost in the Republican primary
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