LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – Nearly $1 billion was spent on political ads in the last week alone. Much of that money was spent in Michigan, which was a frequent campaign stop by the candidates last week as well.

In terms of overall campaign stops, the Trump-Vance ticket made more stops in Michigan than in 2016 and 2020 combined, according to independent news source MIRS.

The presidential candidates are making their final campaign stops in key battleground states, and Michigan is leading the way.

“Michigan ranks very high in this year’s election, both presidential and congressional,” said Arnold Weinfeld, MSU’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research.

According to MIRS, Republicans made a total of 26 visits to Michigan, compared to 21 for Democrats, which includes visits by President Biden.

A political science professor at Purdue University in Fort Wayne, Indiana, says Michigan has highly contested races, hence the amount of attention, unlike non-swing states like Indiana.

“I think the most engaged citizens don’t feel so disenfranchised by the relative lack of attention because of the Electoral College, they’re just trying to do what they can to support the campaigns,” said Jeff Isaac .

The Electoral College is not a physical place, but rather a process of selecting electors who vote for president and vice president. The candidate needs the vote of at least 270 electors or more than half to win the presidential election.

“Indiana, I think it’s widely believed is going to go Trump for sure, and so it’s a strategic waste of time for him to come here, and it’s a waste of time for Kamala Harris to come,” Isaac said.

Among swing states, Pennsylvania has the most electoral votes with 19, and Michigan has 15. All states except Maine and Nebraska have a winner-take-all electoral vote process, meaning that if you win the popular vote, you take all of the electoral votes for that state.

According to Axios, just one week ago, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris made a combined 52 visits to Michigan and Pennsylvania since August. The campaigns did not visit the 35 non-swing states.

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