Bernie Sanders won the Colorado TV ad spending contest as well as the state’s caucuses.
The campaigns of Sanders and Hillary Clinton aired more than 13,000 spots on network, cable and satellite TV in the state during the last three weeks, spending nearly $2.6 million.
Sanders spent almost double what Clinton spent. He outpaced her in ad spots by about 7,700 to 5,300. Sanders aired ads in Grand Junction, while both candidates aired ads in the Denver and Colorado Springs markets.
Data from the Political TV Ad Archive indicates Sanders aired seven different ads in Colorado to Clinton’s three. That group is collecting political ads in key presidential states and analyzing them.
Both candidates ran 60-second ads during the past month, a relative rarity in political advertising.
Sanders ran the 60-second America ad that features only scenes of the country and the Simon and Garfunkel tune. He also ran a long ad where he described his platform. And the Vermont senator ran five different 30-second ads emphasizing the economy, financial regulation and campaign finance.
One of Clinton’s longform ads aimed at Colorado’s Latino vote, while another told the candidate’s life story. Her 30-second ad emphasized her leadership experience.
The Latino vote received plenty of attention, as two unions also battled it out on Spanish-language TV, spending nearly $70,000.
Communication Workers of America bought ads supporting Sanders, while Service Workers International Union bought ads supporting Clinton. A couple of SEIU’s ads aired during last week’s Republican debate on Telemundo.
Then there were the radio ads, fliers, digital ads, canvassing and phone calls by outside groups.
Those outside groups spent more supporting Sanders than they did supporting Clinton. Friends of Earth Action and National Nurses United for Patient Protection spent nearly $79,000 on radio ads, mailers and staffing to support Sanders.
League of Conservation Voters and SEIU spent $65,000 on radio, digital ads and polling to support Clinton.
SEIU spent more than $203,000 on canvassing to oppose GOP candidates Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
And several conservative groups spent about $34,000 on phone calls and voter contact to oppose Clinton.
All told, outside groups have spent more than $450,000 on the presidential race in Colorado thus far.
