COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Thousands of Ohioans have already cast their ballot in the 2024 election during early in-person voting, but how much did political advertisements sway their decisions?
“Maybe the first time, it’s novel and you’re actually paying attention, but after that, I look away, I stare at my phone,” voter Tara Rodgers said.
“I think there was a lot of influence,” voter Susan Rieser said.
Rieser cast her first ballot back in 1976, and she said she looks for one thing when a political ad comes on her television.
“Are they being honest? When people lie to me, I’m not voting for them, period,” she said. “I am swayed by people who’ve done their homework as I have, and I’m very put off by the people who are misrepresenting.”
Sammy Kleinman is voting in her first election. She turned 18 at the start of October and said she feels the weight of this election.
“It’s definitely a big thing,” Kleinman said. “I would say it’s pretty exciting. I’ve never done anything like this.”
Kleinman said she is mostly getting her ads on social media, but she said sometimes the messaging gets lost.
“Specifically, Instagram, sometimes Snapchat,” she said. “Personally, I think it is a good way to get young voters like me to come out and vote because people like me, especially, are going to be the people using those platforms. I don’t always understand all the ads like some of the language. I don’t always know what it means.”
Even though the messaging sometimes is not fully clear to Kleinman, she said they can be helpful and are a “good way to get voters’ attention.” She said she can weed through the messaging by keeping an eye out for issues important to her like women’s and reproductive rights.
“So sometimes I see ads and they focus around those things, so yes, I sway more towards things like that,” she said. “Education is very important to me. I think the environment is very important. So, when I see things like that in political ads and campaigns, that can sway me.”
The U.S. Senate race in Ohio has exceeded $400 million in reserving TV advertising space and “yes” on issue 1 side has spent at least $17 million in their advertising on TV. “
But is it all too much? Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent in Ohio and voters like Rodgers said they’ve already seen enough.
“It’s just too many,” Rodgers said. “I mean, it’s everywhere, they are everywhere you go. It’s all over the Internet. It’s every show you watch. It’s just too, too much. It’s oversaturation. They don’t motivate me. I mean, I was going to vote anyway. So, for me, they’re not necessary.”
And Rieser said she doesn’t always trust all the big-ticket spending.
“I feel like big money is coming into Ohio and trying to influence the politics in a way that aligns to values that are not ours,” Rieser said.
“In the world, there are so many pressing issues, like we’re talking about oil, we talk about power and energy and we’re spending the money on campaigns,” Kleinman said. “I just think the money could be put towards something better than a campaign. So definitely I do think it’s crazy.”
Advertising will likely continue to ramp up these next three weeks until the election.
