TV spending in Ohio legislative contests increases

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Spending on television advertisements for state legislative races in Ohio is on the rise ahead of the fall election, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity.

Ohioans will elect all 99 House members, along with 17 of 33 state senators, on Nov. 4.

Roughly $750,000 has been spent on TV ads in four state Senate contests so far this election cycle, the organization found. And an estimated $590,200 in ads has aired on local broadcast television for nine Ohio House races.

Television spending in the governor's race outpaces all campaigns at $7.3 million.

The Center for Public Integrity analyzed state-level data from ad tracking service Kantar Media/CMAG. The data was updated Monday and doesn't include ads airing this week, when early voting began in the state.

Both sides are spending on a state Senate race in western Ohio, where incumbent Republican Bill Beagle faces a challenge from former Tipp City Mayor Dee Gillis, a Democrat.

The Senate Democrats have aired nearly 100 negative ads targeting Beagle, who also is from Tipp City. Meanwhile, the Republican Senate Campaign Committee has aired close to 700 ads presenting positive information about Beagle.

Positive ads for Republican Sen. Gayle Manning of North Ridge accounted for about a third of the total TV spending in the Senate contests. Manning, a retired teacher, is running against Democrat Marcus Madison, an Elyria councilman, in a northern Ohio district that President Barack Obama won in 2012.

Most of the TV spending in the House contests has come from the well-funded Ohio House Republican Organizational Committee, which has targeted Democratic candidates with negative ads.

The GOP committee has aired close to 300 negative ads estimated at $171,400 against Summit County Councilwoman Paula Prentice, a former teacher. She's vying to unseat Republican Rep. Anthony DeVitis of Green in his Democrat-leaning district.

The Republican group has also run more than 150 mixed ads in the race for an open seat between Democrat Micah Kamrass, a former student body president at Ohio State, and Cincinnati-area attorney Jonathan Dever.

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Online:

http://www.publicintegrity.org/who-calls-shots/ohio

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