 

































Here’s how Trump, Harris and their allies have altered their ad spending strategies in October | CNN Politics













































































CNN values your feedback




                                                        1. How relevant is this ad to you?
                                                






























                                                2. Did you encounter any technical issues?
                                        











                                                                        Video player was slow to load content
                                                                        



                                                                        Video content never loaded
                                                                        



                                                                        Ad froze or did not finish loading
                                                                        



                                                                        Video content did not start after ad
                                                                        



                                                                        Audio on ad was too loud
                                                                        



                                                                        Other issues
                                                                        





                                                                        Ad never loaded
                                                                        



                                                                        Ad prevented/slowed the page from loading
                                                                        



                                                                        Content moved around while ad loaded
                                                                        



                                                                        Ad was repetitive to ads I've seen previously
                                                                        



                                                                        Other issues
                                                                        











                                                        Cancel
                                                

                                                        Submit
                                                





Thank You!

                                        Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much
                                        appreciated.
                                

                                        Close
                                











Ad Feedback


















Close icon








Politics






                  
                  SCOTUS
                



                  
                  Congress
                



                  
                  Facts First
                



                  
                  2024 Elections
                




                      More
                    




                      SCOTUS
                    

                      Congress
                    

                      Facts First
                    

                      2024 Elections
                    








            Watch
          

            Listen
          

            Live TV
          




              Subscribe
            










        Sign in
      



      My Account




          Settings
        



          Newsletters
        



          Topics You Follow
          




          Sign Out
        




Your CNN account
Sign in to your CNN account


























        Sign in
      



      My Account




          Settings
        



          Newsletters
        



          Topics You Follow
          




          Sign Out
        




Your CNN account
Sign in to your CNN account






            Live TV
          

            Listen
          

            Watch
          




                Edition
              


                  US
                



                  International
                



                  Arabic
                



                  Español
                




                Edition





                  US
                



                  International
                



                  Arabic
                



                  Español
                









                  SCOTUS
                



                  Congress
                



                  Facts First
                



                  2024 Elections
                




Follow CNN Politics

























        US
      



            Crime + Justice
          





        World
      



            Africa
          



            Americas
          



            Asia
          



            Australia
          



            China
          



            Europe
          



            India
          



            Middle East
          



            United Kingdom
          





        Politics
      



            SCOTUS
          



            Congress
          



            Facts First
          



            2024 Elections
          





        Business
      



            Tech
          



            Media
          



            Calculators
          



            Videos
          





        Markets
      



            Pre-markets
          



            After-Hours
          



            Fear & Greed
          



            Investing
          



            Markets Now
          



            Nightcap
          





        Health
      



            Life, But Better
          



            Fitness
          



            Food
          



            Sleep
          



            Mindfulness
          



            Relationships
          





        Entertainment
      



            Movies
          



            Television
          



            Celebrity
          





        Tech
      



            Innovate
          



            Foreseeable Future
          



            Mission: Ahead
          



            Work Transformed
          



            Innovative Cities
          





        Style
      



            Arts
          



            Design
          



            Fashion
          



            Architecture
          



            Luxury
          



            Beauty
          



            Video
          





        Travel
      



            Destinations
          



            Food & Drink
          



            Stay
          



            Videos
          





        Sports
      



            Pro Football
          



            College Football
          



            Basketball
          



            Baseball
          



            Soccer
          



            Olympics
          



            Hockey
          





        Science
      



            Space
          



            Life
          



            Unearthed
          





        Climate
      



            Solutions
          



            Weather
          





        Weather
      



            Video
          



            Climate
          





        Ukraine-Russia War
      





        Israel-Hamas War
      





        Watch
      



            Live TV
          



            CNN Headlines
          



            CNN Shorts
          



            Shows A-Z
          



            CNN10
          



            CNN Max
          



            CNN TV Schedules
          



            FlashDocs
          





        Listen
      



            CNN 5 Things
          



            Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta
          



            The Assignment with Audie Cornish
          



            One Thing
          



            Tug of War
          



            CNN Political Briefing
          



            The Axe Files
          



            All There Is with Anderson Cooper
          



            All CNN Audio podcasts
          





        CNN Underscored
      



            Electronics
          



            Fashion
          



            Beauty
          



            Health & Fitness
          



            Home
          



            Reviews
          



            Deals
          



            Gifts
          



            Travel
          



            Outdoors
          



            Pets
          





        Games
      



            CNN Crossword
          



            Jumble Crossword
          



            Photo Shuffle
          



            Sudoblock
          



            Sudoku
          



            5 Things Quiz
          





        About CNN
      



            Subscribe
          



            Photos
          



            Investigations
          



            CNN Profiles
          



            CNN Leadership
          



            CNN Newsletters
          



            Work for CNN
          
















 







Ad Feedback





 





      Here’s how Trump, Harris and their allies have altered their ad spending strategies in October
    













			By David Wright and Alex  Leeds Matthews, CNN
		



                  6 minute read
                

  Published
        7:00 AM EDT, Sat October 19, 2024
    





















            Link Copied!
        










Follow:


Media





See your latest updates










 










Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump

Getty Images








CNN
         — 
    


            In the first two weeks of October, Donald Trump and his allies directed about a third of all their spending on broadcast TV advertisements to ads about transgender health care, a significant increase reflecting a major tactical shift from previous months’ ad expenditures.
    

            On the other side, Kamala Harris and her allies continued to put money into ads focused on taxes, character and health care, while lowering their investment in spots about abortion rights. Democrats have also abandoned an earlier emphasis on immigration and crime when Harris and her allies sought to blunt sustained GOP attacks in the weeks after she took over the ticket.
    

            The ad tracking firm AdImpact catalogs the issues that are referenced in broadcast TV campaign ads and tracks the amount of money behind those spots. Comparing changes since August illustrates how the two campaigns and their allies are tailoring their messages and how much they’re spending to do so.
    

        Pro-Trump campaign ads


            Since the beginning of October, Republican advertisers in the presidential race have flooded the airwaves in battleground states with a series of stark attack ads, blasting Harris for previously expressing support for taxpayer-funded gender transition surgeries for detained immigrants and federal prisoners, a position she took during her unsuccessful 2020 presidential campaign.
    

            These ads about transgender health care – whichAdImpact tracks under the “LGBTQ rights” category –  accounted for about 33% of all Republican broadcast TV advertising during the first two weeks of October, more than $21 million out of a total of about $66 million.
    




            The emphasis on transgender policies is a pronounced shift from Republican advertising earlier in the fall. In August, LGBTQ rights were unmentioned in GOP broadcast TV ads; in September, they accounted for just 7.5%, or about $7 million in total broadcast spending.
    

            The economy has also occupied a significant share of Republican presidential advertising, though with shifting points of emphasis.
    









Migrants pass through razor wire after crossing the Rio Grande into El Paso, Texas, on February 1, 2024.

John Moore/Getty Images




Related article
In closing stretch, Trump is defying polls and betting that voters care more about immigration than the economy




            Ads referencing taxation, which warn of potential Democratic-led tax hikes, rose as a share of GOP broadcast TV spending to 40%, becoming the top-ranked issue in the first two weeks of October – up from 2% of ad spending in August, and less than 1% in September. At the same time, inflation fell as a share of GOP TV ad spending – going from 40% in September to 18% in the first two weeks of October.
    

Immigration and crime – often lumped together in Republican ads – have been among the top issues in GOP spots throughout the campaign, though the emphasis has declined over time.
    

            In August, immigration was the top-ranked issue in advertising by Trump and his allies, referenced in ads that accounted for about 69% of the total Republican broadcast TV spending during that month. Crime ranked second, drawing about 55% of Republican broadcast ad dollars.
    

            In September, both issues still ranked among the top five, with crime the leading issue, though ad spending on immigration was down to 35%, and crime to 44%.
    

            In the first two weeks of October, immigration and crime continue to rank in the top five, but their share of total ad spending has fallen further – 17% for immigration and 27% for crime.
    

        Pro-Harris campaign ads


            Harris and her allies have also made some strategic adjustments to the content of their broadcast TV advertising.
    

            In the first two weeks of October, tax policy ranked as the top issue, as spots about taxation drew about half of all broadcast TV ad spending, nearly $47 million, out of a total of about $95 million. Taxation has been a consistent point of emphasis in Democratic presidential advertising, part of a two-pronged approach – touting Harris’ tax policies aimed at working and middle-class families, while also attacking Trump’s approach and criticizing tax cuts for corporations and top earners.
    




            In August, taxation ranked as the fifth issue for Democrats in their broadcast TV advertising, accounting for about a quarter of presidential spending. In September, that went up to 51% and held steady at 49% in the first two weeks of October.
    

            Meanwhile, abortion – which Democratic ads for congressional races have emphasized heavily – continued to account for a significant share of Harris and her allies’ broadcast TV advertising, though it fell noticeably in the first two weeks of October.
    

            In August, ads referencing abortion rights accounted for about a third of all Democratic broadcast TV advertising in the presidential race, ranking as the top issue. In September, that share was about the same, 32%, including spending on a Harris campaign ad about IVF treatments, which does not explicitly mention abortion. In the first two weeks of October, ads about abortion rights, including the IVF spot, accounted for about 12% of Democratic broadcast TV advertising.
    









Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, on October 16, 2024.

Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters




Related article
Kamala Harris works to fortify the ‘blue wall’ as Democrats fret over a 2016 repeat




            In dollar amounts, that represented a decline from more than $78 million combined across both August and September combined to about $11 million in the two-week October period.
    

            Other top issues in Democratic presidential advertising on broadcast TV have been character – with Democrats consistently airing waves of ads questioning Trump’s fitness for office – and health care, with multiple spots touting the Biden administration’s efforts to lower prescription drug costs, protect Obamacare and expand Medicare coverage.
    

            Harris and her allies also appear to have mostly abandoned an earlier effort in the weeks immediately after the vice president took over the top of the Democratic ticket, to blunt GOP attacks on immigration and crime. In August, ads about crime – many touting Harris’ background in law enforcement, as a former district attorney and state attorney general – accounted for about 29% of Democratic broadcast TV advertising, while spots about immigration drew 11%. In September, both issues fell below 3%, and that continued in the first two weeks of October, with neither issue drawing more than 2% of total spending.
    

        “Positive” vs. “negative” messaging


            Ads from the campaigns and their allies cover a wide range of competing issues, and they also reflect divergent strategies when it comes to their overall tone.
    

            AdImpact categorizes the tone of campaign ads airing on broadcast TV as either “positive,” “negative,” or “contrast,” which attempt to highlight policy differences between the candidates.
    

            And the data shows that the Trump campaign and its allies are waging an overwhelmingly negative advertising effort.
    

            Out of a total of $66 million that Republican advertisers spent on broadcast TV for the presidential race during the first two weeks of October, nearly 80% went toward “negative” ads, just over 20% was spent on “contrast” ads and nothing went toward “positive” ads.
    

            By comparison, data for the Harris campaign and its allies reflects a more balanced approach. Out of a total of about $95 million that Democratic advertisers spent on broadcast TV for the first two weeks of the month, about 58% went toward “contrast” ads, about 23% to “negative” ads and about 19% to “positive” ads.
    































Ad Feedback









Ad Feedback





















Ad Feedback












Ad Feedback















Ad Feedback

































        Subscribe
      










        Sign in
      



      My Account




          Settings
        



          Newsletters
        



          Topics You Follow
          




          Sign Out
        




Your CNN account
Sign in to your CNN account






        Live TV
      

        Listen
      

        Watch
      






        US
      



            Crime + Justice
          





        World
      



            Africa
          



            Americas
          



            Asia
          



            Australia
          



            China
          



            Europe
          



            India
          



            Middle East
          



            United Kingdom
          





        Politics
      



            SCOTUS
          



            Congress
          



            Facts First
          



            2024 Elections
          





        Business
      



            Tech
          



            Media
          



            Calculators
          



            Videos
          





        Markets
      



            Pre-markets
          



            After-Hours
          



            Fear & Greed
          



            Investing
          



            Markets Now
          



            Nightcap
          





        Health
      



            Life, But Better
          



            Fitness
          



            Food
          



            Sleep
          



            Mindfulness
          



            Relationships
          





        Entertainment
      



            Movies
          



            Television
          



            Celebrity
          





        Tech
      



            Innovate
          



            Foreseeable Future
          



            Mission: Ahead
          



            Work Transformed
          



            Innovative Cities
          





        Style
      



            Arts
          



            Design
          



            Fashion
          



            Architecture
          



            Luxury
          



            Beauty
          



            Video
          





        Travel
      



            Destinations
          



            Food & Drink
          



            Stay
          



            News
          



            Videos
          





        Sports
      



            Pro Football
          



            College Football
          



            Basketball
          



            Baseball
          



            Soccer
          



            Olympics
          



            Hockey
          





        Science
      



            Space
          



            Life
          



            Unearthed
          





        Climate
      



            Solutions
          



            Weather
          





        Weather
      



            Video
          



            Climate
          





        Ukraine-Russia War
      





        Israel-Hamas War
      





        Watch
      



            Live TV
          



            CNN Headlines
          



            CNN Shorts
          



            Shows A-Z
          



            CNN10
          



            CNN Max
          



            CNN TV Schedules
          



            FlashDocs
          





        Listen
      



            CNN 5 Things
          



            Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta
          



            The Assignment with Audie Cornish
          



            One Thing
          



            Tug of War
          



            CNN Political Briefing
          



            The Axe Files
          



            All There Is with Anderson Cooper
          



            All CNN Audio podcasts
          





        CNN Underscored
      



            Electronics
          



            Fashion
          



            Beauty
          



            Health & Fitness
          



            Home
          



            Reviews
          



            Deals
          



            Gifts
          



            Travel
          



            Outdoors
          



            Pets
          





        Games
      



            CNN Crossword
          



            Jumble Crossword
          



            Photo Shuffle
          



            Sudoblock
          



            Sudoku
          



            5 Things Quiz
          





        About CNN
      



            Subscribe
          



            Photos
          



            Investigations
          



            CNN Profiles
          



            CNN Leadership
          



            CNN Newsletters
          



            Work for CNN
          
















Politics





            Watch
          

            Listen
          

            Live TV
          


Follow CNN Politics
























            Subscribe
          










        Sign in
      



      My Account




          Settings
        



          Newsletters
        



          Topics You Follow
          




          Sign Out
        




Your CNN account
Sign in to your CNN account









          Terms of Use
        

          Privacy Policy
        



          Ad Choices
        

          Accessibility & CC
        

          About
        

          Subscribe
        

          Newsletters
        

          Transcripts
        

          Help Center
        

© 2025 Cable News Network. A Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All Rights Reserved.  CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network.










It's a bit odd that the Democratic ads have lessened their advertising on abortion, as I would think it's one of the winning arguments

But it's good for us that the Republicans are going all in on culture war bullshit, as that is not a winning strategy