Political advertising spending is expected to total close to $9.8 billion for the 2020 election year, according to a new report by media buying firm GroupM.
That figure encompasses all forms of advertising, and would represent an increase of 63% increase from 2016 and a more modest 17% increase from the 2018 midterms. There are currently more than 20 democratic challengers vying to defeat incumbent president Donald Trump, with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg entering the race last week.
Bloomberg spent more than $30 million alone last week on TV ads as he entered the Democratic primary. The amount represented the most ad dollars ever spent by a political candidate in a single week, far outpacing the old record of $24 million by Barack Obama during the last week of his 2012 re-election campaign.