Campaign ads on TV run behind ’06 barrage

By David Skolnick

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Candidates, campaigns and outside special-interest groups have spent $5,214,950 to air more than 11,000 political commercials on the Mahoning Valley’s six local television affiliates.

The commercials will run through next Tuesday, Election Day.

With a number of close races, some candidates could decide to increase their presence on local network affiliates.

“I’m still expecting a lot of activity this week as we go into the final weekend,” said Kathy Sarna, sales representative who handles political ads for WKBN and WYFX, the local CBS and Fox affiliates, respectively.

A majority of the more than 11,000 commercials started airing at the beginning of October.

Even with business picking up — at $5,214,950 as of Monday compared with about $2.32 million in late September, according to an analysis by The Vindicator — it is below the about $6 million spent in 2006 on the Valley’s local affiliates.

This year’s political spending was “tightly compacted in the month prior to the primary and general elections,” said Jack Grdic, general sales manager for WFMJ and WBCB, the area’s NBC and CW affiliates, respectively.

Grdic said political- advertising agencies are telling him that raising money “has been more of a ‘last minute’ cycle for some races this year. This, along with a tightening governor’s race helps explain the volume of political ads rising the past couple of weeks.”

Sarna agreed, saying, “This was a very different political year. There is usually steady spending until close to Election Day when campaigns have added funds and step up advertising. But the Ohio House Dems and Ohio House Republicans only started advertising with us on Oct. 18, and a lot of candidates [who] were advertising all over Ohio only started spending in October in Youngstown.”

The most-expensive race in terms of candidates’ spending on TV commercials in the Valley is for governor.

As of Monday, Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, had spent $509,135 for commercials compared with $458,575 for John Kasich, his Republican challenger.

Of those amounts, Strickland is spending $129,315 compared with $101,975 for Kasich during this last week before the election.

Though Kasich began airing commercials on the affiliates Aug. 9, Strickland waited till Sept. 4.

Most polls have the gubernatorial race as a statistical dead heat.

The Youngstown television market includes Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana and the western portion of Stark County in Ohio as well as Mercer and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania.

Most national congressional forecasters are saying the 6th Congressional District race between U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, a Democrat from St. Clairsville, and Republican Bill Johnson of Poland is too close to call.

Looking at the amount of money the two are spending on Valley TV affiliates, it isn’t even close.

Wilson has spent $318,950 compared with $22,535 for Johnson.

But the American Action Network, a Republican-backed organization targeting Wilson for defeat, spent $386,030 for commercials that ran from Oct. 14 to this past Sunday.

Also, the National Republican Congressional Committee is spending $307,900 on the area’s TV affiliates, primarily for attack ads against Wilson. Some of that money also was spent on negative ads against freshman U.S. Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper of Erie, Pa., D-3rd.

Most national congressional pundits say Dahlkemper is likely to lose her seat to Republican Mike Kelly of Butler, Pa.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent $393,565 for commercials on Valley network affiliates. Most of that money is for commercials targeting Johnson.

No money for TV ads has been spent in the 17th Congressional District race that pits U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat from Niles, against Republican Jim Graham of Cortland and James A. Traficant Jr. of Poland, an independent.