A new report from AdImpact previews the estimated Arizona election spend for the 2022 cycle. Our state is forecast to be one of the top 5 in total political ad expenditures over the next 13 months with an estimated $525 million.

The year ahead brings an Arizona Governor’s race, a US Senate race, all of our U.S. Congressional seats, and whatever issues/local races come up. 

As shared with the ABA by OH Predictive Insights, AdImpact expects that spending to be broken out as follows:

• Arizona US Senate Seat: $217 million (#3 US Senate spend in the country)
• Arizona Governor: $168 million (#2 Governor spend in the country)
• Arizona US House Seats: $51 million (#9 US House spend in the country)

Of special note, the US House races remain a wild card across Arizona since all seats are currently going through a “redistricting” process to reflect the results of the 2020 census.

This could mean wild swings in the makeup of each district leading to more competitive races when the effort is finalized in early 2022.  

Looking ahead to TV and radio ad impacts, here are your calendar LUR dates:

• The primary election lowest unit rate period opens on June 18, 2022 for an August 2, 2022 primary election.
• The general election lowest unit rate period opens on September 9, 2022 for a November 8, 2022 general election.

In addition the normal rules of the road, Arizona has passed a new law that affects political campaign contribution transparency.

As we shared with you over the summer, this law has implications for political ads on TV and radio stations. 

While the main responsibility falls upon the ad placer, now is the time to make sure you are working this into your SOP for ad review.