• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, January 12, 2024

The 2024 presidential election process kicks off Monday with Republican primary voting in Iowa, and Republicans have already spent $259 million in the state, according to the most recent estimates released this afternoon by AdImpact.

Most of the money -- $200 million -- has been spent by issues groups, while the candidates vying for the state's nomination have spent $59 million.

In total, that adds up to more than $360 ad dollars per registered Republican voter in the state (as of Nov. 20, 2023).

Looked at another way, that's a gross effective CPM of $360,272.

By candidates, Nikki Haley outspent the pack with $63.7 million in Iowa to date, or about $88.61 per registered Republican voter in the state.

"Who's going to get a return on their investment," Chris Christie, who spent $18 million in the state, said on a hot mic just before announcing he would be dropping out of the race, adding that Haley is "going to get smoked."

We'll see what Iowa's voters have to say about that, but if he's right, Christie may have a new career as a post-buy analyst.