Jan 19, 2024 - 14:47
By npr.org

What campaign ads tell us about the state of the 2024 election ahead of New Hampshire

Another $17 million in ads has been poured into the race to be the Republican presidential nominee in the past week, according to data from the ad-tracking firm AdImpact and analyzed by NPR.

That brings total ad spending since Jan. 1, 2023, up through Thursday afternoon to $275 million, and all eyes are now fixed on New Hampshire.

Former President Donald Trump has led by double digits in New Hampshire polls, but former Trump U.N Ambassador Nikki Haley has been trending up in the race. And on the heels of his distant second-place finish in Iowa, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is still in the race, too, but with far less of a focus on New Hampshire.

New Hampshire has taken a bit of a back seat to Iowa in the ad-spending race, but still $76 million has gone into ads trying to reach New Hampshire voters. (Iowa saw the most by far with $124 million.)

Just since the Iowa caucuses on Monday, $8.6 million has been spent on New Hampshire's airwaves. And it's been a one-on-one race on the air between Haley and groups supporting her against Trump and a super PAC supporting him. Team Haley has spent $5.6 million to Trump groups' $3.1 million in that stretch.

So what are voters seeing from the candidates and the groups supporting them in the final days before voting there? Pro-Haley groups are focusing on Trump and Biden being disliked, her ability to defeat Biden and appeal to the middle, and they argue that it's a two-person race between Haley and Trump.

Trump is continuing to hit Haley on proposing cuts to Social Security, and the super PAC supporting him, MAGA Inc., is attacking her on immigration with an ad it has spent more than $1 million on in New Hampshire.