A new survey says Kentucky ranks next to last in the amount of TV ad spending for state races.
The nonpartisan Center for Integrity estimates candidates for Kentucky state House and Senate races have spent just $4,600 so far on TV ads this cycle, slightly more than was spent in North Dakota. But state Republican and Democratic leaders say they expect the TV spending to increase over the next few weeks as Republicans attempt to take control of the House for the first time since 1920.
The money is an estimate and does not include spending on radio, online, direct mail or TV ads on local cable systems. State candidates have nearly $300,000 worth of ads reserved in the coming weeks.
In Tennessee it's a much different story. The same study finds that nearly $3 million has already been spent on broadcast TV advertising for state level races. The report found 8,565 ads have run for and against judicial, gubernatorial and legislative candidates.
The August retention campaigns of Democratic State Supreme Court Justices Connie Clark, Sharon Lee and Gary Wade involved nearly 4,600 broadcast ads. The Justices and their supporters spent $929,000 while opponents spent about $538,000.
Despite the bruising TV campaign, the three justices cruised to comfortable victories.
The study found that Governor Bill Haslam spent $666,000 on about 1,900 TV ads despite not facing any serious opposition for the Republican nomination, and that advertising in state legislative races ran at about $799,000.
