One Depressing Stat Sums up Jeb Bush's Horrible Campaign in Iowa
By:
Despite spending more on his campaign than any other Republican presidential candidate in the field, former Florida governor Jeb Bush lost big in Iowa on Monday. Bush and his super PAC spent about $14.1 million on advertising in the state, where voters caucused for their candidate of choice and gave Texas senator Ted Cruz the majority of the votes.
The Huffington Post - huffingtonpost.com
Bush came in with just 2.8 percent of the vote in Iowa, leaving him with zero delegates. That means he spent approximately $2,800 per vote, according to ad-buy data collected from Morning Consult. By contrast, the candidate spent about 18 times more than the GOP winner in Iowa, Ted Cruz, and 34 times as much as Donald Trump, who came in second place.
The Huffington Post - huffingtonpost.com
The combined total spent on advertising by Democratic and Republican presidential candidates was about $70 million, MSNBC reported. That's still about $5 million less than what the candidates spent during 2012 , the most expensive election season on record.
RELATED: How Millennials Voted in the Iowa Caucus
"In 2012, Rick Perry broke the record on media spending per vote in Iowa, spending about $480, followed by Mitt Romney, who spent $155 per vote," The Huffington Post reported. "And ultimately, the return on investment for Bush was dismal."
Bush started off strong early in his campaign but slowly lost his lead to Trump and Cruz as the race heated up. The Republican candidate was not in state when the results of the Iowa Caucus were announced; instead, he was in Manchester, New Hampshire, the site of the first primary battle in the U.S., which will take place next week.
"The real race for the nomination begins on February 9th in New Hampshire," an internal memo from the Bush campaign said. "It will set the race going forward and today, Jeb Bush is in a very strong position in the state."
