Start your engines: The '24 election cycle has begun

2/14/23 7:00PM

Start your engines

‍Yesterday, Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, announced her candidacy for president. The first confirmed challenger to Trump — who launched his own bid to return to the White House in November 2022 — Haley’s announcement comes nearly 21 months, or some 630 days, before the 2024 election date.

Putting political ideology aside, Haley’s early announcement is indicative of just how much goes into running a modern campaign to get the keys to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Fundraising, canvassing, organizing volunteers, polling the public, producing media assets, filming commercials, running social media accounts and — of course — deciding on your flagship policies are time-consuming… but most of all they are expensive.

Indeed, data from OpenSecrets reveals that the most recent presidential election was the most expensive election cycle in history, with political spending in 2020 totalling some $14.4bn, or more than $16bn once adjusted for inflation.

The average winner in the House spent $2.35m, while in the Senate it took a whopping ~$27m to emerge victorious and history suggests that 2024 election spending is likely to reach new highs again.

Hyunsoo Rim

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JetBlue is raising its bag fees as fuel costs squeeze airlines

JetBlue will reportedly hike its bag fees, as the cost of jet fuel continues to climb amid the war in Iran. It’s the latest example of carriers finding ways to push rising costs onto travelers.

Last week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said that if fuel prices remain elevated, fares would need to rise another 20% for his airline to break even this year.

As CNBC reported, when one airline raises fees, others tend to follow.

Earlier this month, JetBlue hiked its first-quarter outlook for operating revenue per seat mile to between 5% and 7%, saying that strong Q1 demand helped “partially offset additional expenses realized from operational disruptions and rising fuel costs.” Now, the carrier appears to be making moves to further boost revenue to offset those costs.

Earlier on Monday, JetBlue rival Alaska Air lowered its Q1 profit forecast. The refining margins for the carrier’s cheapest fuel option — sourced from Singapore and representing about 20% of Alaska’s overall supply — have spiked 400% since February.

JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.