Campaign Cash & Ad-Purchasing Power Simulator

Fund Allocation & Market Parameters

Democratic War Chest $770M Total

Candidate Cash-on-Hand (LUR Eligible): $320M

Party & Super PAC (Non-LUR): $450M

Grassroots Repeat Velocity: 42%

Republican War Chest $1,180M Total

Candidate Cash-on-Hand (LUR Eligible): $180M

Party & Super PAC (Non-LUR): $1,000M

Grassroots Repeat Velocity: 22%

Super PAC Broadcast Markup (LUR Advantage): 2.8x

By law, TV/radio stations must sell candidate ads at their Lowest Unit Rate. Super PACs pay regular open market rates (1.5x–4.0x higher during peak election windows).

Effective Purchasing Power vs Nominal Total Dem: 89.5% of GOP Airtime

Nominal War Chest Gap GOP +$410M GOP holds 1.53x raw cash

Effective Ad Buying Power GOP +$56.4M Dem achieves 89.5% airtime

Field & Ground Liquidity Dem 1.78x Direct candidate hard dollars

Nominal Raised Dollars Dem: $770M vs GOP: $1,180M

Dem $770M

GOP $1,180M

Effective Broadcast Ad Buying Power (LUR Adjusted) Dem: $480.7M vs GOP: $537.1M eqv.

Dem $480.7M

GOP $537.1M

Operational Assessment

GOP holds 1.53x nominal cash advantage, but due to PAC broadcast rate premiums, Dem effective purchasing power reaches 89.5% of GOP airtime while holding 1.78x direct field coordination liquidity.

Metric	Democrats	Republicans	Advantage / Delta
Direct Candidate Cash (LUR Eligible)	$320M	$180M	Dem +$140M (1.78x)
Outside Super PAC / Party Funds	$450M	$1,000M	GOP +$550M (2.22x)
Total Nominal War Chest	$770M	$1,180M	GOP +$410M (1.53x)
PAC Effective Ad Value (at markup)	$160.7M	$357.1M	GOP +$196.4M
Net Effective Airtime Purchasing Power	$480.7M	$537.1M	GOP +$56.4M (1.12x)
Grassroots 2nd+ Donation Headroom Index	1.42x	1.22x	Dem +0.20x