2020 hopefuls spend more than $17.6 million in SC on ads ahead of primary
Democratic presidential hopefuls have spent more than $17.6 million so far on digital and television advertising competing for the attention of South Carolinians ahead of the state’s pivotal First in the South primary.
Billionaire businessman Tom Steyer spent most of that money — more than $13.3 million — including $11.8 million on TV advertising and more than $1.5 million on social media ads.
The data did not include spending from Steyer’s Need to Impeach campaign, which began running ads featuring Steyer in October 2017, according to the group’s website.
That money was invested in 32 separate TV ads.
“Tom Steyer is taking a big gamble on South Carolina,” said Chris Kromm, the Institute’s executive director and author of the report. “With just over a week to go until the critical primaries, he’s accounted for more than three-quarters of Democratic ad spending in the state.”
The heavy investment ad spending is part of Steyer’s aggressive campaign in South Carolina, which has propelled him to third place in the most recent polls of the state’s Democratic voters.
Though he will not be appearing on the ballot in South Carolina, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent the second most on ads in South Carolina, investing more than $1.7 million across digital platforms and TV markets, according to the Institute for Southern Studies.
Though S.C. voters won’t get a chance to cast a ballot for him Feb. 29, Bloomberg has two significant backers in the Palmetto State: Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin and state Rep. Todd Rutherford, who is the S.C. House minority leader.
Longstanding S.C. front-runner, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his closest challenger, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, had some of the lowest ad investments in the Palmetto State.
Biden spent about a quarter of a million dollars on TV and digital ads, while Sanders only invested about $101,000.
Overall, Democratic presidential hopefuls invested $13.1 million more in TV ads than in social media ads on Instagram and Facebook.
The data was collected through Monday, and multiple candidates and political action committees announced more ad buys later in the week, leading up to the First in the South primary.
Biden’s campaign launched a new ad in South Carolina Thursday, which focused on the former vice president’s relationship with former President Barack Obama. The ad is slated to run in the Columbia, Charleston, Greenville/Spartanburg and Florence/Myrtle Beach markets.
A pro-U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar PAC announced Thursday it made a million dollar TV and digital ad buy in South Carolina and Nevada. And last week, the Klobuchar campaign made a six-figure ad buy in the state.
This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 11:42 AM.
