From City Council to Governor: Tailoring Your Political Ad Spend for Every Level

It is officially "Sign Season" in Shasta County. If you’ve driven down Cypress or Hilltop lately, you know exactly what I’m talking about. The primary is looming in June, and the digital landscape is getting just as crowded as the street corners.

I’m currently juggling half a dozen clients, some aiming for the Governor’s office, others looking to represent their neighbors on a City Council, and even a PAC committee or two. People often ask me if the strategy changes when the stakes (and the budgets) get bigger. The short answer? Yes. The long answer? It’s not just about adding zeros to the budget; it’s about a fundamental shift in how we approach marketing and sales consulting for a political brand.

Whether you’re trying to win over a few thousand neighbors or a few million Californians, your ad spend needs to be surgical. If you treat a City Council race like a Governor’s race, you’ll go broke before the first ballot is cast. If you treat a Governor’s race like a local one, you’ll be invisible.

The Local Micro-Game: City Council and Supervisors

In a local Shasta County race, think City Council or Board of Supervisors, you aren't fighting for broad name recognition across the state. You are fighting for the "grocery store factor." You want people to see your face on their phone and think, “Wait, I think I saw that guy at Dutch Bros.”

For these races, the budget is usually tight. We’re talking anywhere from a few thousand to maybe twenty thousand dollars for the entire primary cycle. Because the pool of voters is so small, every dollar has to work overtime.

Where the Money Goes

At this level, Facebook and Instagram are your best friends. Why? Because the targeting is still decent enough to hit specific zip codes and demographics without wasting money on people in Redding if you’re running for office in Anderson.

I usually advise local candidates to spend about 70% of their digital budget on Facebook and Instagram. It’s where the high-propensity voters (the ones who actually show up for primaries) live. The remaining 30%? We put that into high-intent search or very specific YouTube placements.

The Strategy

In local races, authenticity beats production value every single time. A shaky, 30-second iPhone video of a candidate standing in front of a local pothole or a closed business will outperform a $5,000 cinematic masterpiece. My business strategy coaching for local candidates always emphasizes one thing: be a human, not a talking point.

The Statewide Beast: Running for Governor

Now, let’s flip the script. When you’re running for Governor, you are essentially a mid-to-large-sized corporation. The search results show that some gubernatorial races are seeing $22 million ad blitzes. Even in the primary, you’re looking at six or seven-figure spends just to stay relevant.

At this level, we aren't just looking for "engagement." We are looking for mass-market saturation and sentiment shift.

Where the Money Goes

The platform selection changes drastically here. While Facebook is still a pillar, we start looking at TikTok and YouTube for massive reach. TikTok is the "wildcard" of the 2026 season. Despite the constant talk of bans, it remains the most effective way to reach the under-40 demographic. For a Governor candidate, you need that youth energy to drive the narrative, even if they aren't your primary donor base.

For a statewide race, the split looks more like this:

• 30% Meta (FB/IG): Retention and donor base maintenance.
• 30% YouTube: Long-form storytelling and "pre-roll" dominance.
• 20% TikTok/Short-form Video: Viral potential and youth reach.
• 20% Programmatic/Connected TV: Reaching the cord-cutters on Hulu and Roku.

PACs and Committees: The Strategic Wildcards

PACs (Political Action Committees) are the "snipers" of political advertising. They usually have a very specific goal: defeat Proposition X, or highlight Candidate Y’s record on crime.

When I work with PACs, the ad spend is almost entirely focused on "persuadables." We aren't trying to convince the staunch partisans; we’re looking for the 10% of voters in the middle who haven't made up their minds.

This is where I lean heavily into news worth sharing strategies: creating content that looks and feels like a community update rather than a "Vote No" ad. PACs have more freedom to be aggressive, and their ad spend reflects that. They often spend heavily on "attack" or "contrast" ads on YouTube, where they can force a 15-second unskippable message in front of a relevant news clip.

Platform Breakdown: What Works in 2026?

If you’re managing a campaign (or a business, for that matter), you have to know where your audience’s attention is actually sitting. It’s not 2012 anymore; "putting it on the internet" isn't a strategy.

Facebook & Instagram

The "Old Reliable." This is where the donors are. If you want to raise money, you run ads on Meta. The integration of Threads has also provided a new avenue for political discourse that feels slightly less toxic (for now) than X (formerly Twitter). I’ve talked about the resurgence of Instagram Threads before, and for political candidates, it’s a goldmine for "behind-the-scenes" personality.

TikTok

TikTok is where you go to trend, but it’s also where you go to get "canceled" if you aren't careful. For local Shasta County races, I generally tell candidates to stay off TikTok unless they have a very specific, creative hook. It’s too easy to reach the wrong audience. But for a Governor candidate? You can't afford not to be there.

YouTube

YouTube is the new television. With the rise of Connected TV (people watching YouTube on their actual TVs), it has become the most powerful tool for "pre-roll" advertising. If someone in Redding is watching a video on how to fix a fence, and your 15-second ad about local infrastructure pops up, that is a high-value impression.

The "Whitlow" Approach: Strategy Over Spending

Here is a reality check: throwing money at a bad message won't make it a good one. Whether I’m doing business strategy coaching for a local tech startup or consulting for a political campaign, the principle remains the same. You need a "hook," a "story," and a "call to action."

In a City Council race, the hook is: "I live here, and I see what you see."
In a Governor race, the hook is: "I have the vision to lead the 5th largest economy in the world."

The budget allocation is just the fuel. If the engine (the message) is broken, you’re just burning gas.

Getting Ready for June

We are less than 30 days out from the meat of the primary season. If you haven't locked in your digital strategy, you’re already behind.

For my local clients, we are currently in the "frequency" phase. We’ve done the "introduction" ads; now we are making sure their faces appear in people's feeds three to five times a week. We’re also keeping a close eye on site traffic and Google’s new AI search changes to ensure that when people search for a candidate’s name, they actually find the candidate’s platform and not a hit piece from an opponent.

Final Thoughts for the Candidates

If you are running for office in Shasta County: or anywhere else: stop trying to be everywhere.

• Pick your platforms based on your budget.
• Focus on video over static images.
• Be human.

Political advertising doesn't have to be a dark art. It’s just communication at scale. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the digital noise, maybe it’s time to look at your strategy from a different angle. After all, whether you're selling a vision for the city or a vision for the state, the goal is the same: get people to buy in.

Good luck to everyone on the ballot. It’s going to be a wild ride to June. If you need a hand navigating the digital swamp, you know where to find me. I’m here to help you scale, whether you're running a business or a campaign.