With the election only weeks away, television viewers are seeing a parade of political ads. One race is seeing lopsided ad spending.
Campaign finance documents compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project show political ad spending in favor of incumbent U.S. Senator Tim Kaine is outpacing ads in favor of Republican challenger Hung Cao by more than 16 to one. That’s more than $3 million in favor of the Democrat compared to $200,000 in favor of the Republican.
"You look at all the different races in the Commonwealth this year, and Tim Kaine's has been the most effective to go find specific things that Hung Cao has said and hold him accountable to it," says Democratic strategist Ben Tribbett.
Kaine has a new ad out this week reminding voters that Cao called Staunton "podunk" and saying traveling to Abingdon would be "ridonculous."
"The ad will be effective, especially in that part of the Commonwealth where Tim is popular," says former Republican Delegate David Ramadan, now at George Mason University's Schar School. "He plays bluegrass music and goes down there and hangs out with people and he's seen as a friendly U.S. senator."
The campaign is not over yet, and Cao is out with a new ad this week highlighting his military service.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
