In a spending disparity that Bloomberg reports would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago, Sen. Mary Landrieu has aired just 82 campaign spots since Election Day, compared to 1,917 commercials for her Republican runoff challenger, Rep. Bill Cassidy, according to Kantar Media’s CMAG data.
Bloomberg notes that Democratic strategists estimated just two weeks ago that the Senate runoff in Louisiana would cost both sides about $35 million each. But since then, TV spots touting Landrieu account for just 4% of all ads in the race. Cassidy and his supporters, meanwhile, account for 96% of ads in the race.
“Landrieu’s ads are running in two of the state’s six media markets. Cassidy has all of Louisiana blanketed,” Bloomberg reports. “It wasn’t always like this. From Sept. 1 through Nov. 4, Landrieu had the upper hand in the air war. She ran 14,651 spots in that time period compared to Cassidy’s 10,302, according to Kantar Media.”
Cassidy’s campaign is getting help from the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the David and Charles Koch-backed Freedom Partners Action Fund. GOP-leaning outside groups are also helping Cassidy in other ways. Americans for Prosperity, another arm of the Koch political network, just spent $3,000 for online ads that will appear on Facebook.
The Women Speak Out PAC, a group that tries to put pro-life candidates in office, is speaking out against Landrieu—and paying mileage and salaries for a passel of staffers working on the ground to support Cassidy. Even the Black Conservatives Fund reported spending money for Cassidy. The number of outside groups supporting Landrieu, meanwhile, is at zero. Read the full story.
