More than $2 billion has been spent on the current presidential election — and voters can expect to see the abundance of ads running on Wisconsin media right up until Election Day. Both parties are concentrating their spending on nine battleground states, including key markets in the Badger State.
With outside groups and PACs bankrolling thousands of ads, neither the Republicans nor Democrats are having any problem paying for the platform to get their messages out. Over 16,000 ads were aired in just the first three weeks of October in Wisconsin’s five major markets — Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee and Wausau. According to Wesleyan Media Project, 2012 shatters 2004 and 2008 records for total ads aired.