With the first quarter of 2024 over, we wanted to look back on which House candidates dominated the airwaves in the opening months of the year. Here’s who came out on top of the money game, thanks to data compiled by our friends at AdImpact.
Unsurprisingly, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) was the biggest spender, disbursing a whopping $3.5 million in his successful special election bid in New York’s 3rd District. Democrats enjoyed a cash advantage in the race and Suozzi’s tough-on-the-border ads set the tone for the immigration-centered election.
According to AdImpact, Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) has already reserved $2.4 million in TV ad spending this cycle. Craig, a Frontliner, is in a perennially tough district for Democrats, although she has won three cycles in a row there.
Coming in third was Republican Kelly Daughtry, who led the primary for North Carolina’s 13th District. Daughtry spent $2 million on television ads, but still didn’t get enough of the vote to avoid a runoff. Daughtry will face Brad Knott — who spent just $300,000 on the airwaves — in the May 14 runoff.
The fourth-highest spending House candidate was also in North Carolina’s 13th District. Fred Von Canon spent $1.5 million on TV ads, but fell one percentage point short of Knott and failed to advance to the runoff. The 13th District — currently represented by Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.) — is now a safely red seat after Republicans in the state legislature drew new lines for the 2024 cycle.
Democrat Peter Dixon spent the fifth-most of any House candidate — $1.5 million — but only garnered 8% of the vote and came in fifth in California’s 16th District primary.
Other House candidates that splashed over $1 million in the first quarter include Jefferson Shreve and Chuck Goodrich in two upcoming Indiana GOP primaries, in addition to John Bradford and Grey Mills, both of whom lost their Republican primaries.
— Max Cohen
