Says political guru Dan Centinello: You probably know more about politicians both local and national than they know about themselves, thanks to campaign ads during the political season. Political ads are virtually ubiquitous in today’s world. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a channel that doesn’t inundate viewers with ads seemingly every commercial break.

1. THE COST
OF
RUNNING
FOR OFFICE
D A N C E N T I N E L L O

2. $$$$$
$$$$$

3. By now, you probably know
that Jason Kander can
assemble an AR-15 with his
eyes closed–over a million
have on YouTube alone, not
counting those who have
seen it on TV. You probably
also know that Kander isn’t
alone in that skill, and that
he’s received poor grades
from the NRA. You probably
know more about
politicians both local and
national than they know
about themselves, thanks to
campaign ads during the
political season.

4. The reason campaign ads
are so widespread is simple:
they work. It’s estimated
that politicians will spend
over $4.4 billion in 2016
alone campaigning for
public office. This includes,
of course, the biggest
spenders: the presidential
nominees, which
overshadow the money
spent running for local and
state office positions.

5. T H E C A M P A I G N
P U Z Z L E
The more local the election,
the smaller the budget,
naturally. Campaigns on
smaller scales (township
trustees, city council, etc)
can run much smaller
budgets, in the realm of
$13,000 to $15,000. In
contrast, in the year 1990,
the average senate winner
spent about $3.9 million
getting elected, while the
average member of the
House of Representatives
spent about $400,000. By
2008, those numbers rose
to $7.26 million and
$840,000, respectively.

6. T H E C O S T O F P O L I T I C A L
C A M P A I G N S I S , A S Y O U
M A Y E X P E C T , O N T H E R I S E .
W I T H T H E P O P U L A T I O N
C O N S T A N T L Y R I S I N G ,
I N F L A T I O N A N A T U R A L
O C C U R R E N C E , A N D N E W
L A B O R L A W S D R I V I N G U P
T H E C O S T O F H I R I N G
C A M P A I G N E M P L O Y E E S ,
E V E N L O C A L O F F I C E
C A M P A I G N S A R E G R O W I N G
M O R E A N D M O R E
E X P E N S I V E B Y T H E Y E A R .

7. DANCENTINELLO