Facebook Political Ads: Which States Are 2020 Democrats Betting On?

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https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/01/17/us/politics/democrats-political-facebook-ads.html

Facebook Political Ads: Which States Are 2020 Democrats Betting On?
Democratic candidates’ spending on Facebook ads shows how campaigns are plotting their way through primary states.
By Nick Corasaniti and Quoctrung Bui
Jan. 17, 2020

With just over two weeks left until the Iowa caucuses, Facebook ad data offers a lens into the primary strategies of the Democratic presidential candidates.

Since October, Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind. — who has built his campaign around a potential victory in Iowa — has spent about a fifth of his overall Facebook budget in the state. Andrew Yang, a political newcomer, has spent more than 85 percent of his Facebook budget in Iowa and New Hampshire, a clear sign of how critical strong performances in those states are for him to be taken seriously in the elections and caucuses that follow.

While the three leading Democrats — former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts — spent a significant share of their Facebook budget in early states, they are taking a more national approach on Facebook than they are on other paid mediums, like television, in part to attract small dollar donors in a broader universe.

Over the past 90 days, the Democratic field has spent more than $31 million on Facebook ads, $6.4 million of that on ads in the first four states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. In that time, President Trump has spent about $7.5 million on Facebook ads, though a lot of his efforts are also focused on combating the impeachment narrative.