The campaign of former President Donald Trump and an associated super PAC have spent four times as much money on television political advertising in Georgia in the two weeks since Vice President Kamala Harris took over as the presumptive Democratic nominee than in the rest of 2024 combined.
The dramatic increase is a sign that Republicans view the race for Georgia to be more competitive than when President Joe Biden was at the top of the Democratic ticket.
Charles Bullock, a political scientist at the University of Georgia, said the spike in spending indicates the Trump campaign perceives Harris to be a stronger opponent.
“I think the overall perspective of the Trump campaign was that it was pretty much in the bag if they were running against old Joe,” he said. “Now old Joe’s gone, and it’s a whole new game.”
Since July 21, when Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed Harris, the Trump campaign and MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting the former president, have spent more than $11.5 million on television ad buys at the major networks in the state to air in the months leading up to the election, compared with $2.9 million spent the rest of the year.
These totals include major network stations with the largest broadcasting range, but not cable networks.
This spending is part of a more widespread ad buy by the Trump campaign set to air during just two weeks, totaling over $10 million across radio and TV stations in swing states including Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to AdImpact, an organization that tracks political ads.
Even with Trump’s ad-buying blitz, Democrats have spent more on presidential campaign ads in Georgia than Republicans, booking a total of $29.4 million for ads to support Biden or Harris while Republicans have ordered $14.4 million in ads.
Each campaign has already purchased ads that will air over the next few months, and much of the spending from each campaign will air ads in the two weeks leading up to the election.
The Harris campaign said it is investing heavily in battleground states such as Georgia with $50 million spent on an ad campaign titled “Fearless” that is now running on TV, radio and social media. The campaign also noted that it is targeting Asian American, Black, Latino and Nikki Haley voters.
“The Harris campaign team in Georgia is running on a brighter future where every Georgian cannot only get by, but get ahead — and we’re working across the entire state to deliver the White House for the Democrats just like we did in 2020,” Porsha White, the Georgia director for the Harris campaign, said in a statement.
A Georgia spokesperson for the Trump campaign said that the increase in spending is due to the campaign’s commitment to winning Georgia and the close timeline with less than 100 days until the election.
Republican strategist Brian Robinson said the increased spending signals that the Trump campaign is taking Harris’ run seriously.
“I don’t think the Trump campaign is taking Georgia for granted, and I think what the spending illustrates is no one’s taking it for granted,” he said. “Both campaigns see this as winnable.”
Robinson said the ad purchases reflect an effort by both sides to define Harris, since most voters have already made up their minds on Trump.
“In many ways, Kamala Harris is making a second first impression, because most Americans haven’t paid too much attention to her in the past,” he said.
Richard Gideon, a 68-year-old Brookhaven resident who plans to vote for Trump, said he leaves the TV on all the time and sees about 10 ads for each candidate every day and slightly more for Harris last week.
“I don’t pay a lot of attention to them because I know who I’m going to vote for,” he said. “They’re definitely not going to change my mind.”
Trump’s campaign and MAGA Inc. have bought almost 13,000 spots for ads since Harris launched her campaign, more than twice as many as they bought while Biden was running. These ads will air on 14 different TV stations over the next few months leading up to the election. The campaign has seen a sharp increase in the cost of ads because it began spending more in the Atlanta television market, where rates are often higher than in other parts of the state.
On the Democratic side, more than 22,000 spots for ads were purchased before Harris launched her campaign, and about 3,800 have been bought since. Roughly 13,000 of these ads aired for Biden before Harris’ campaign began.
Both campaigns have spent more money on ads for TV stations inside Atlanta but will be airing a slightly higher number of ads outside the city. Outside of Atlanta, Harris’ campaign is airing ads in Augusta, Macon, Rome, Savannah and Toccoa. Trump’s campaign is airing ads in Albany, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, Rome and Savannah.
Garon Brown is a 65-year-old living in Troup County. He said he sees about six to eight ads for each candidate on TV every day. “When (the election) gets closer, it’s just going be one after another,” he said, in reference to the frequency he sees presidential ads. “It doesn’t seem to be too bad right now, but I’m sure it’s going to get worse.”
