DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES SET RECORD SPENDING ON UNIVISION, TELEMUNDO STATIONS IN PRIMARIES

Initial Findings: Spanish-Language Advertising in the 2008 Presidential Campaign

The two leading Democratic presidential candidates spent millions of dollars on Spanish-language television ads, setting records for individual and combined Democratic expenditures in a presidential primary season. By combining original research, interviews and news reports, the Hispanic Voter Project at Johns Hopkins University estimates that the Democratic presidential candidates spent more money – at least $4 million – on Spanish-language television advertising this cycle, outpacing total spending in 2000 and total primary spending in 2004.

“Three factors have likely contributed to increased spending on Spanish-language appeals: a front-loaded calendar and extended process featuring states with large Hispanic populations, a very competitive Democratic contest, as well as record candidate fundraising and overall spending,” according to Adam J. Segal, founder and director of the Hispanic Voter Project at Johns Hopkins University.

The two remaining Democratic candidates, Senators Hillary Clinton (NY) and Barack Obama (IL) have continued to create and
air Spanish-language ads as the Democratic primary contests have dragged on, with attention now turned to Pennsylvania
(where both campaigns are airing Spanish-language TV spots) and eventually Puerto Rico.

Meanwhile, Republican candidates also aired Spanish-language ads during the primaries and the campaign of likely party
nominee’ Sen. John McCain (AZ) recently released its first general election Spanish-language TV spot.

This information is the result of a research project that involved interviews with TV station managers, visits to TV stations to
review the public political files, as well as Internet and news media research. The findings were released late yesterday at the
“Understanding the Hispanic Vote in 2008” Conference sponsored by the Center for Politics and Governance at the LBJ School at The University of Texas at Austin.

The full report is now available online in PDF form at http://advanced.jhu.edu/government/hvp