With less than a week to go before Election Day, political campaigns and groups have now spent almost $21.9 million to air ads over North Carolina airwaves.
That's according to a WRAL analysis of estimated spending data from Kantar Media since April 1. More than 60,000 political ads supporting or opposing candidates in races from the local to the national level have aired over that time period.
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And that doesn't account for ads airing on cable channels or advocating for or against issues like the state's six proposed constitutional amendments.
The biggest spender on ads so far is Dan McCready, the Democrat vying for the open seat in the state's 9th Congressional District, which extends along the southern border from Charlotte to Fayetteville. His campaign has so far spent an estimated $2.3 million on aired ads, mostly in the Charlotte market.
He faces Republican Mark Harris, whose campaign has spent less than half of that. The Congressional Leadership Fund and the Club for Growth together have also shelled out a little less than $1 million in support of Harris' Congressional bid.
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Combined with spending from other groups, the 9th Congressional District has become the most expensive race by broadcast ad spending, racking up about $5.7 million worth of ads aired during both the primary and general election season.
Political ads referencing the 2nd Congressional District, where Democrat Linda Coleman is looking to unseat Republican Congressman George Holding, have now topped $3.5 million. About 6,000 ads have aired in the Raleigh market for that race, fewer than half of the number aired for the 9th District.
Despite a combined $13.6 million in estimated spending in the Charlotte and Raleigh – two of the country's top-25 television markets – it's Greensboro viewers who have actually seen the largest number of political ads. Since April 1, more than 18,000 campaign commercials have aired on Triad broadcast channels – an average of 86 a day.
Health care has by far dominated the subject matter of the ads. More than one-third of the ads that have aired across the state have mentioned the issue.
Issues of education, taxes and energy/environment have each appeared in about one out of every four ads, which can often touch on multiple subjects in their bids to sway public opinion.
Jobs and employment, meanwhile, show up in only about 10 percent of the ads aired this year.