BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana leads the nation in spending on TV political ads this year, as candidates and outside political groups devote millions mainly to the competition for governor.

An analysis of ad spending by the Center for Public Integrity shows Louisiana's TV campaign advertising has reached $15.8 million. That edged the state past Kentucky, which also has a competitive governor's race.

Only a few states have statewide elections this year.

More than $10 million has been poured into TV spots for the Louisiana governor's race alone, 43 percent of it spent by independent organizations. Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter and a super PAC supporting him account for $4.3 million.

The Center for Public Integrity analyzed data from Kantar Media/CMAG, a media tracking firm. These figures cover ads aired through Monday.

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