TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – With just 18 days left until Election Day, bigwigs on both sides of the race are turning their attention to Southern Arizona more than ever.
But this influx of political messages increases the risk of voter fatigue.
“I’ve always talked to people who say they’re sick of it, but then they open their mailbox and there’s a ton of flyers for both campaigns. I think a lot of people have had that experience.” said Samara Klar, a political science professor at the University of Arizona.
It’s hard not to notice campaign ads in Arizona. It’s an overwhelming fact for residents, but political analysts said it should be that way.
“Arizona currently has the second-highest expected broadcast spending of any state in the nation, and Arizonans are probably paying more than any other state in the U.S.,” said Mike Noble, CEO of Noble Predictive Insights. “You’re going to see more political ads here than in the states.”
Beyond political ads, southern Arizona has seen both presidential and vice presidential candidates stop in town over the past few weeks.
Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton are scheduled to visit the state in the coming days.
Experts say that while it may seem like overkill, that’s not necessarily what these campaigns are concerned about.
“From a campaign perspective, there’s no great risk in overloading voters with messages. The risk isn’t to the people. So if someone is feeling fatigued, they’re less likely to vote. Will it be lower? Probably not,” Klar said.
It puts a lot of pressure on certain states, and it trickles down to the mindset of voters. According to a 2024 Pew poll, 65% of American adults feel tired of politics.
Arizona’s presidential election was decided by just 10,000 votes in the last election, putting even more attention on the state, which has led to even more fatigue for residents this year.
“We realized that people were reaching a saturation level, and we’re clearly reaching a saturation level because we’ve never received this many (messages) before,” Noble said. he said.
Even though many people are stressed about high-stakes politics, experts say the biggest impact may be on local horse racing and voting measures, which could be drowned out in a historic election year. He said there is.
“The problem is, when you have smaller races, local races, where you’re running for the state (representative) or judicial level, the problem is, it’s really hard to break through because it’s so noisy,” Noble said. .
With President Obama visiting Tucson on Friday, the dustup won’t die down anytime soon. 13 News’ JD Wallace will be at the event and will have more details starting at 3 p.m. You can watch his report live at www.kold.com/live.
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