McCrory-Cooper contest has the most governor’s race ad spending in the country

Gov. Pat McCrory and Democratic challenger Roy Cooper have already aired thousands of commercials, so it’s no surprise that the campaign has seen more ad spending than any other governor’s race in the country.

According to a recent analysis by the Wesleyan University Media Project, North Carolina is well ahead of Indiana’s governor’s race ad spending. Through Aug. 18, Cooper, McCrory and outside groups have aired commercials nearly 15,000 times, costing a total of $7.7 million.

That’s well ahead of Indiana, where 14,700 ads have aired at a total cost of $4.9 million. And governor’s races in Montana, Mississippi, Vermont and West Virginia have seen substantially less advertising.

The analysis shows Cooper with a big lead in advertising, likely because he’s raised more money than McCrory for months. About 8,800 pro-Cooper ads have aired at a cost of $5.6 million, while 6,100 pro-McCrory ads have aired at a cost of $2 million.

North Carolina has also garnered a big share of presidential ad spending. The Charlotte media market ranks fourth in presidential ads with $3.6 million spent through Aug. 18, while the Raleigh market ranked 10th with $2.5 million.

Ad spending hasn’t yet heated up in the state’s U.S. Senate race, which did not crack the top 10 most expensive Senate races in the country.

This story was originally published August 29, 2016 at 1:51 PM with the headline "McCrory-Cooper contest has the most governor’s race ad spending in the country."