How TV ads are shaping Tuesday's election

Liz Essley Whyte
Updated

Nov. 5, 2015: This story has been corrected.

Voters head to the polls Tuesday to decide major races in several states, while Louisiana gears up for its runoff election on Nov. 21 to determine its next governor and several other top offices.

Though overshadowed by the 2016 presidential contest, these state elections have generated thousands of television ads worth millions of dollars.

Who voters choose to represent them will have important consequences for Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia. And voters will use ballot measures to decide important policy issues ranging from marijuana legalization in Ohio to campaign finance reform in Maine.

Here are 10 things to know about this year’s TV election ad wars:

Related story: 2015 state ad wars tracker

This story is part of Who’s Calling the Shots in State Politics?. The Center exposes the powerful special interests that drive elections and policy in the states. Click here to read more stories in this series.

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Source: Center for Public Integrity analysis of Kantar Media/CMAG data current through Oct. 26.

Correction, Nov. 5, 2015, 3:27 p.m.: An earlier version of this story reported the incorrect amount that pro-pot advocates spent on TV airtime trying to pass a measure legalizing marijuana in Ohio. At the time, they had spent an estimated $4.8 million.

Related: 10 things to know about Tuesday's election

This story is part of Who’s Calling the Shots in State Politics?. The Center exposes the powerful special interests that drive elections and policy in the states. Click here to read more stories in this series.

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Copyright 2015 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.