There are a lot of ways to spend $19 million. Buying TV ads in a presidential race you have close to zero chance of winning probably shouldn't be one of them.
Billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer has dumped tons of his own money into the 2020 Democratic presidential race, coming in second to only former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in terms of spending on TV and Facebook ads. But unlike Bloomberg, Steyer has failed to gain more than an ounce of momentum after all was spent and done — a fact that was glaringly obvious after his sixth place finish in Tuesday's New Hampshire primaries.
Steyer spent $19.2 million on TV and radio ads leading up the New Hampshire's vote, NBC News reports, and earned just over 10,000 votes. That's about $1,850 spent on each vote.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Reason to Believe, a PAC supporting former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, meanwhile spent about $1,430 for every one of Patrick's 1,258 votes — and unlike Steyer, Patrick dropped out of the race immediately after that count was in.
-
What’s the best way to use your year-end bonus?the explainer Pay down debt, add it to an emergency fund or put it toward retirement
-
What are portable mortgages and how do they work?the explainer Homeowners can transfer their old rates to a new property in the UK and Canada. The Trump administration is considering making it possible in the US.
-
10 concert tours to see this winterThe Week Recommends Keep cozy this winter with a series of concerts from big-name artists
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
