Ad spending in Iowa Republican caucuses hits record high

NEW YORK, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- More than 120 million U.S. dollars has been spent on video ads by campaigns and affiliated political action committees in the Iowa Republican caucuses, hitting a new record high, according to media reports on Monday.

In particular, ad buys in support of former U.S. President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis totaled around 84 million dollars, according to reports, citing ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

Overall, 270 million dollars has been spent on all Republican presidential primary video ad spending with Iowa and New Hampshire taking the lion's share.

As much as 15.9 billion dollars would be spent on U.S. elections and advocacy issues in 2024, surging 31.2 percent from that in the last presidential election in 2020, according to a recent forecast by paid advertising agency GroupM.

Iowa is set to hold its Republican caucuses Monday night, kicking off the Republican presidential primary.