BATON ROUGE (AP) — Spending on TV advertising for Louisiana's Oct. 24 election grew by more than 32 percent over the last week, as candidates and outside groups pour millions into last-minute ads they hope can sway voters.
More than $12.4 million has been pumped into TV ads through Monday, up more than $3 million from a week earlier, according to an analysis of ad spending by the Center for Public Integrity. Here's a closer look at the advertising spending:
LOUISIANA GOVERNOR
Two-thirds of all television spending, about $8.3 million, was paid to promote or attack candidates for the open governor's seat.
Of that money, 59 percent was spent by the campaigns of the four major contenders in the race: Republican Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle, Republican Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards and Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter.
The remaining 41 percent, or $3.4 million, was spent by political action committees trying to influence the race, largely through attack ads against candidates. The latest entrant is the Republican Governors Association, which launched its first TV ad in the governor's race over the last week, striking at Edwards and linking him to President Barack Obama.
Still, Vitter and the super PAC supporting him, the Fund for Louisiana's Future, remain the top spenders among candidates and outside groups, with more than $3.7M poured into TV advertising between them.
OTHER RACES
The nearly $1.3 million in spending on TV spots for the lieutenant governor's race remains a two-man battle in the four-candidate race.
Republican John Young, president of Jefferson Parish, has aired $866,000 in TV spots. Spending by GOP candidate Billy Nungesser, former president of Plaquemines Parish, has reached nearly $395,000. Neither Democrat Kip Holden, mayor of Baton Rouge, nor Republican state Sen. Elbert Guillory has done any TV advertising, according to the data.
Similarly, the two main Republican rivals for attorney general account for all recent TV ad spending. Incumbent Buddy Caldwell has used $270,000 of his campaign cash for television spots so far, while former Congressman Jeff Landry's spending on TV tops $321,000.
THE DATA
The Center for Public Integrity analyzed data about political advertising on broadcast television from Kantar Media/CMAG, a media tracking firm that monitors 211 media markets around the country and offers a widely accepted estimate of the money spent to air each spot.
These figures cover ads aired between Jan. 1, 2014, and Oct. 12, 2015, yet represent only part of the money spent on political advertising. They do not include ads for radio, online, direct mail or TV ads that aired on local cable systems. The estimates also do not include the cost of making the ads.
– by AP Reporter Melinda Deslatte
