As election day approaches, it may well seem to voters that negative ads are flooding the airwaves, cable commercial breaks, and even mailboxes. In fact, Virginia’s statewide elections this year are on track to break new records in spending on political advertising.
Political communications expert Cayce Myers shared his analysis of the motivations behind the unprecedented spending and the incentives that candidates have to frame their opponents in increasingly negative terms.
“Both Republicans and Democrats have tried to nationalize the 2025 Virginia governor’s race by framing this as an election about Donald Trump, government cutbacks, and parental rights in Virginia public schools. Democrats want this election to be a referendum on President Trump and Republicans want this to be a referendum on far-left progressive politics, especially centering on education and parental rights,” Myers said.
Myers said negative ads have increased because Republicans and Democrats are fighting over the narrative of the election.
“While attack ads are nothing new to American politics, they have proliferated in the past few cycles in Virginia because of the polarization of the electorate,” he said. “Though Virginia has become a less competitive state for Republicans, the 2021 election demonstrated that Republicans can still win statewide races.”
Virginia Tech