Pennsylvania residents are having a difficult time avoiding political advertising, especially since the state's 19 electoral votes could be decisive in who wins November's presidential election.
About $42 million of the $110 million in advertising spent in the seven swings states by the campaigns of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris from July 22 to Aug. 12 went to Pennsylvania, more than double the $17.8 million spent in Georgia, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing data from ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
President Joe Biden endorsed Harris to replace him at the top of the ticket on July 21 when he decided to not seek reelection after an abyssmal debate performance against Trump in June.
Harris and her allies have spent $21.2 million in Pennsylvania and Trump and his allies $20.9 million in ads primarily running on broadcast TV, cable, radio and satellite, the Journal reported.
In other swing states besides Georgia, about $17.7 million has been spent by both campaigns and their allies in Michigan, $14.5 million in Wisconsin, $11 million in Arizona, $3.8 million in North Carolina, and $3.6 million in Nevada.
Residents of battleground states should expect even more as Election Day approaches. MAGA Inc., the top super PAC backing Trump, has announced plans to spend $100 million on ads in swing states through Labor Day, the Journal reported. Harris' campaign said it was launching a $90 million ad buy for the rest of this month.
The majority of advertising from Harris' campaign and its main super PAC, the Future Forward PAC, has been spent on painting the vice president in a positive light while contrasting her with Trump, while Trump and his allies have mostly tried to paint her in a negative light, the Journal reported. But the strategy might change when summer turns to fall.
Because it is such a crucial state, Pennsylvanians won't just see the candidates on TV, but they will get a chance to catch them in person. Trump has a rally scheduled for Wilkes-Barre on Saturday afternoon, and Harris has scheduled a bus tour across the western part of the state Sunday.
Trump also said he plans to return to Butler, where he dodged an assassination attempt July 13, and hold a rally.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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