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Democrats held the advantage in spending on broadcast television ads in Georgia's U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races in mid-September, according to a new analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project.
From Sept. 12 to 25, there were 4,945 total ads in the Senate race. Of that sum, 2,780 favored Democratic nonprofit executive Michelle Nunn and 2,165 favored Republican businessman David Perdue, according to data compiled by Kantar Media/CMAG and analyzed by Wesleyan University.
A mere 1.01 percent of Democratic ads were from outside groups — meaning the Nunn campaign is doing all the heavy lifting for its candidate. But after outside Republican groups provided all of Perdue's air cover for a while following a money-sapping runoff, they provided just 15.24 percent of the ads in mid-September.
In all, Democrats spent $1.7 million on TV in that span, and Republicans spent $1.6 million.
Democrats had a more lopsided advantage — greater than 2-to-1 — in Senate race ads aired from Aug. 29 through Sept. 11, according to Wesleyan's previous analysis.
In the governor’s contest there were 4,625 spots, with 2,364 favoring Democrat Jason Carter and 2,261 favoring Republican Gov. Nathan Deal. Just 1.18 percent came from outside groups on the Democratic side, while 10.84 percent came from outside Republican sources. Democrats outspent Republicans in that stretch $1.43 million to $990,000.
One-third of the ads in the governor’s race were considered “positive” by the study, the highest percentage in the country. The Senate race was the fifth-most-positive in the country at 24.5 percent.
The two-week analysis also reveals that there were more ads in Georgia’s 12th Congressional District than any other U.S. House race in the country — a whopping 4,051. U.S. Rep. John Barrow of Augusta and national Democrats had a considerable advantage: 2,611 spots and $800,000 spent, compared with 1,440 spots and $460,000 for Augusta businessman Rick Allen and Republicans.
Both national parties have invested heavily in the 12th District race, one of a few House races across the country — and the only one in Georgia — in danger of flipping parties.
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