Significant Spending on State Ballot Measures
State ballot measures emerged as major recipients of online advertising investments, amassing over $61 million to influence campaign outcomes nationwide. This figure represents a sixfold increase from the $10 million recorded in summer analyses. Comparatively, no other category witnessed such a steep rise in spending.
Throughout the election cycle, expenditure on ballot measures surpassed the combined spending on gubernatorial and down-ballot races, which totaled $45 million, and nearly equaled the $64 million spent on all House races. Five of the top 20 spots for total advertising dollars were occupied by ballot measure campaigns, with ten making it to the top 30, often outspending many Senate and nearly all individual House campaigns.
Interestingly, funding for online advertising related to ballot measures predominantly originated from national donors rather than local contributors.
In Florida, Amendment 4, a proposal to embed abortion rights in the state constitution, attracted approximately $9 million in online spending, making it the highest among the sampled measures. Most of this funding came from Floridians Protecting Freedom, with substantial contributions from left-leaning national organizations like the Fairness Project, Sixteen Thirty Fund, Planned Parenthood, and ACLU. Philanthropic foundations such as Marsha Zlatin Laufer and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation also played significant roles.
Similarly, an abortion rights measure in Ohio during 2023 was supported by out-of-state financing. Nearly $4 million was spent on online advertisements for the amendment, with funding almost evenly split between supporters and opponents. Ohioans for Reproductive Rights, backed by many of the same national donors as Florida’s Amendment 4, allocated nearly $2 million in support. Protect Women Ohio, opposing the measure, spent about $1.75 million, predominantly funded by conservative advocacy entities like the Concord Fund and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
Other ballot measures that ranked in the top 30 for online ad spending included California’s Prop 35 (Medicaid funding) and Prop 33 (rent control), Missouri’s Amendment 3 (abortion rights), Ohio’s Issue 1 (redistricting reform), and Nevada’s Question 3 (ranked-choice voting). These measures were also notably supported by groups heavily dependent on national funding.
