Super PACs Could Drive Total 2012 Election Spending to $9.8B

A study by the research firm Borrell Associates projects that election spending in 2012 will reach a stratospheric $9.8 billion -- vs. about $7 billion in 2008. (The figures include 13,000 statewide, congressional and municipal races, as well as the presidential election.)

Spending by PACs, national political party committees, and the super PACs is projected to be $4.76 billion, or 48% of all spending. Super PACs were created by the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision, in which it determined that spending by corporations and unions can't be restricted. Cable TV is the main beneficiary of the anticipated tidal wave of campaign spending, as inventory on the networks will most likely be bought up earlier, driving TV buyers to spend their money elsewhere, according to Kip Cassino, Borrell's exec VP. The report estimates that $468 million was spent on cable in 2008 and that the number will roughly double this year. Borrell also expects to see more municipal candidates, such as aspiring school-board and city-council members, vying for TV time, as lower levels of political office ratchet up their campaign spending from cycle to cycle.