HELENA — In your mailbox, online, on your phone and on television — it’s been hard for Montanans to avoid political ads this year.

“I’m going to destroy the mute button on my TV, because they keep showing the same stupid commercials over and over again,” Helena resident Jane Anthony said.

“It’s definitely a drag,” Jim Cottingham said, also of Helena. “You know, you just want to listen to a song or something, and then it’s like ‘Shady Sheehy’ or ‘Two-Term Tester’ or whatever.”

With Election Day just a week away, MTN spoke to many Montana voters who all shared the same sentiment.

“Totally overwhelmed by all of this,” said Helena resident Thelma Sagan.

This year, Montana has been at the center of one of the most expensive races in the United States: the campaign for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democratic Sen. Jon Tester. The race between Tester and Republican challenger Tim Sheehy could determine which party controls the Senate next year, putting Montana in the national political spotlight.

Since the last pre-election campaign finance deadline last week, total spending in the race has surpassed $255 million, breaking the previous mark of more than $160 million spent at this point. in the 2020 U.S. Senate race between Republican Senator Steve Daines and Democratic Governor Steve Bullock.

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Between them, the two major party campaigns have spent more than $100 million since the start of 2023 — nearly $79.2 million for Tester’s campaign and $21.9 million for Sheehy’s. The nonpartisan organization OpenSecrets tracks spending by outside groups and has identified Another $155 million in independent spending – split almost equally between pro-Sheehy and pro-Tester.

OpenSecrets ranks Montana’s Senate race as the third costliest congressional election in the country this year (https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/most-expensive-races?cycle=2024&display=allcandsout), trailing only the senatorial campaigns in Ohio and Pennsylvania. However, when looking at the amount spent per voter, Montana is clearly at the top of the list. In total, campaigns and outside groups invested about $226 per person in the state. In Ohio, that figure is closer to $34, and in Pennsylvania, about $22.

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These numbers don’t even take into account what was spent on other races in Montana:

• In the Western Congressional District (https://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary?cycle=2024&id=MT01), incumbent Republican Ryan Zinke spent nearly $7.6 million and Democrat Monica Tranel spent nearly $4.9 million, plus another $4 million in outside spending.
• In the Eastern Congressional District, Republican Auditor Troy Downing spent $2.5 million on the primary and general elections and received more than $750,000 in support from outside groups (https://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary?cycle=2024&id=MT02). Democrat John Driscoll chose to spend no more than the federal minimum of $5,000, while write-in candidate Reilly Neill reported spending just under $9,500.
• In Montana’s gubernatorial race, incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte and his Democratic challenger Ryan Busse have each spent about $2.5 million since the start of the election cycle.
• The lead committee supporting CI-128, a measure to incorporate abortion rights into the Montana Constitution, has spent more than $11 million, while sponsors CI-126 and CI-127, two ballot measures aimed at overhauling Montana’s election system, spent more than $11 million. spent more than $6 million.

Voters MTN spoke to were not only tired of the volume of political ads, they also felt discouraged by the tone of them.
“This is not the WWF of the 1980s,” Cottingham said. “It’s supposed to be an intellectual discussion – like, ‘Here’s the problem, what are we going to do about it?’”

“They have no substance,” Anthony said.

The number of potential voters who can be influenced by political advertisements is constantly decreasing. More than 284,000 Montanans had already returned their absentee ballots as of Oct. 28, more than a third of all registered voters in the state.

With only a week left for the campaigns to make their case, there is light at the end of the tunnel for fed-up Montanans.

“I look forward to hearing the results and then we can return to our usual routines,” Sagan said.