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Campaign Ads: More Than 1 Million Aired In 2012 Election

More Than 1 Million Ads Aired In 2012 Campaign: Report
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Copy Chief, HuffPost

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If you feel like you're seeing a lot of political ads this time around, you're right. Mitt Romney, Barack Obama and the groups that support them have aired more than a million ads this campaign cycle, nearly 40 percent more than the amount aired in the 2008 election, according to a report released Friday by the Wesleyan Media Project.

"This is, by far, the most advertising we’ve seen in a presidential election," Erika Franklin Fowler, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, said in the report. "Everyone expected ads to be more abundant this election than in 2008, especially with super PAC involvement and both candidates opting out of public funding, but passing the one million mark is a real milestone."

Those figures don't include the final week, meaning the number of ads aired by election day should be well over the million mark. A majority of the aired advertisements have been in support of President Barack Obama, whose campaign aired 503,255 ads between April 11 and Oct. 29, 2012. The Romney campaign, by comparison, aired 190,784 ads in that period.

In the final week measured by the report, Oct. 22 to Oct. 29, Obama continued to air more ads and spend more money on them than Romney. The Republican campaign spent less on ads in that week than pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future, a switch for the campaign in general. However, the Romney campaign aired double the number of ads aired by Restore Our Future during the week.

The figures give a glimpse into which markets are being given highest priority by the candidates and outside groups. Denver residents were inundated with the largest number of ads, followed by Las Vegas, Orlando, Cleveland and Tampa. Ohio, unsurprisingly, had the largest number of markets with heavy advertising.

Read the full report here.

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Before You Go

100 Years Of Election Night Winners
2012 -- Barack Obama (01 of26)
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U.S. President Barack Obama waves to supporters following his victory speech on election night in Chicago, Illinois on November 6, 2012. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty )
2008 -- Barack Obama (02 of26)
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Nov. 4, 2008: U.S. president-elect Barack Obama waves at his supporters during his election night victory rally at Grant Park in Chicago. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty )
2004 -- George W. Bush (03 of26)
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In this Nov. 3, 2004 file photo, President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush salute and wave during an election victory rally at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File) (credit:AP)
2000 -- George W. Bush(04 of26)
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U.S. Republican presidential candidate and Texas Governor George W. Bush casts his vote in Austin, Texas on November 7, 2000. (PAUL RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty )
1996 -- Bill Clinton (05 of26)
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President Bill Clinton, wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea wave to supporters in front of the Old State House during an election night celebration in Little Rock, Ark. on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 1996. (AP Photo/David Longstreath) (credit:AP )
1992 -- Bill Clinton(06 of26)
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Bill Clinton and Al Gore celebrate in Little Rock, Arkansas after winning in a landslide election on November 3, 1992. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)
1988 -- George H. W. Bush (07 of26)
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President-elect George Bush and his family celebrate his victory on November 8,1988 at the Brown Convention Center in Houston. (WALT FRERCK/AFP/Getty Images)CORRECTION: An earlier version of this slide was titled "George W. Bush." It has been fixed. (credit:Getty )
1984 -- Ronald Reagan (08 of26)
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President Ronald Reagan gives a thumbs-up to supporters at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles as he celebrates his re-election, Nov. 6, 1984, with first lady Nancy Reagan at his side. (AP Photo/File) (credit:AP)
1980 -- Ronald Reagan (09 of26)
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President-elect Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy wave to well-wishers on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 1980 at Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles after his election victory. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)
1976 -- Jimmy Carter(10 of26)
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Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter embraces his wife Rosalynn after receiving the final news of his victory in the national general election on November 2, 1976. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
1972 -- Richard Nixon (11 of26)
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U.S. President Richard M. Nixon meets at Camp David, Maryland, on November 13, 1972 to discuss the Vietnam situation with Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger (L) and Maj. Gen. Alexander M. Haig Jr.(R), Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. (Photo by AFP PHOTO/NATIONAL ARCHIVE/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
1968 -- Richard Nixon (12 of26)
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President-elect Richard M. Nixon and his wife, Pat, were a picture of joy at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, Nov. 6, 1968, as he thanked campaign workers. At left are David Eisenhower, Julie Nixon's fiance, Julie and her sister Tricia at center. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)
1964 -- Lyndon Johnson(13 of26)
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President Lyndon Johnson proves he's a pretty good cowhand as he puts his horse, Lady B, through the paces of rounding up a Hereford yearling on his LBJ Ranch near Stonewall, Texas, on November 4, 1964. (AP Photo/Bill Hudson) (credit:AP)
1960 -- John F. Kennedy (14 of26)
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Caroline Kennedy peeps over the shoulder of her father, Senator John F. Kennedy, as he gave her a piggy-back ride November 9, 1960 at the Kennedy residence in Hyannis Port, Mass. It was the first chance president-elect Kennedy had to relax with his daughter in weeks. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)
1956 -- Dwight D. Eisenhower(15 of26)
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon salute cheering workers and Republicans at GOP election headquarters in Washington, November 7, 1956, after Adlai Stevenson conceded. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)
1952 -- Dwight D. Eisenhower (16 of26)
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President-elect Dwight Eisenhower and first lady-elect Mamie Eisenhower wave to the cheering, singing crowd in the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Commodore in New York City on Nov. 5, 1952 after Gov. Adlai Stevenson conceded defeat. (AP Photo/Matty Zimmerman) (credit:AP)
1948 -- Harry S. Truman(17 of26)
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U.S. President Harry S. Truman holds up an Election Day edition of the Chicago Daily Tribune, which, based on early results, mistakenly announced "Dewey Defeats Truman" on November 4, 1948. The president told well-wishers at St. Louis' Union Station, "That is one for the books!" (AP Photo/Byron Rollins) (credit:AP)
1944 -- Franklin D. Roosevelt(18 of26)
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President Franklin Roosevelt greets a young admirer as he sits outside his home in Hyde Park, N.Y., on election night, November 7, 1944. Behind him stands his daughter, Mrs. Anna Roosevelt Boettinger and the first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)
1940 -- Franklin D. Roosevelt(19 of26)
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American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 - 1945) speaking to a crowd of 25,000 at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 8, 1940, before his sweeping re-election for a third term. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
1936 -- Franklin D. Roosevelt(20 of26)
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The Republican Governor of Kansas and presidential candidate, Alfred Landon (1887 - 1987) greeting the American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 - 1945) (seated) prior to the presidential elections. Future United States President Harry S. Truman can been seen in the background. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images) (credit:Getty )
1932 -- Franklin D. Roosevelt (21 of26)
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Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York at his Hyde Park, N.Y. home November 6, 1932, seen at the conclusion of the arduous months of campaigning following his presidential nomination in Chicago. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)
1928 -- Herbert Hoover(22 of26)
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President-elect Herbert Hoover is seated at a table with wife, Lou, and joined by other family members on Nov. 9, 1928. Standing from left: Allan Hoover; son; Margaret Hoover, with husband, Herbert Hoover, Jr.,at right. Peggy Ann Hoover, daughter of Herbert Hoover Jr., sits with her grandmother. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)
1924 -- Calvin Coolidge(23 of26)
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U.S. President Calvin Coolidge and first lady Grace Coolidge are shown with their dog at the White House portico in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 5, 1924. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)
1920 -- Warren Harding(24 of26)
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Senator Warren Harding, with wife Florence and his father George, shown on Aug. 27, 1920. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)
1916 -- Woodrow Wilson(25 of26)
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Surrounded by crowds, President Woodrow Wilson throws out the first ball at a baseball game in Washington in this 1916 photo. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)
1912 -- Woodrow Wilson(26 of26)
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Woodrow Wilson (1856 - 1924), the future American president, casts his vote while Governor of New Jersey, on Nov. 14, 1912. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
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