TV Ad Buys in 2014 Primary

TV Ad Buys in 2014 Primary

Never before has a candidate won a major office in Rhode Island without spending any money on television.  

In the Democratic primary for Providence Mayor, Jorge Elorza was able to defeat primary challenger Michael Solomon by 1,131 votes without spending a dime on television.  Solomon spent about $200,000 to run campaign ads on local television over the course of the election season, according to FCC political filings by ABC6, WJAR 10, WPRI 12, and Fox Providence 64.

See SLIDES:  $ spent on all political TV ad buys in this year's primary BELOW

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An analysis of all political TV ad buys in this year’s primary indicates that the Democratic primary for Mayor of Providence was not the only primary race in which the candidate who spent the most on local television advertising over the course of the campaign season was defeated.  

Republican gubernatorial primary winner Allan Fung was outspent on TV by his opponent, Ken Block by about $10,000, yet won by a margin of 3,131 votes.  Meanwhile, Democratic candidate for Secretary of State, Nellie Gorbea was outspent by her opponent Guillaume de Ramel by a rate of about 2:1, yet defeated de Ramel by 3,207 votes.  

TV spending was low among all three candidates in the Democratic primary for Lt. Governor, and the winner of the Republican primary for Lt. Governor, Catherine Taylor had not yet done any TV advertising as of Primary Day. 

Democratic gubernatorial primary winner Gina Raimondo spent more than her opponents Clay Pell and Angel Taveras in television advertising over the course of the election cycle.   

That being said, television advertising comprised just 28% of Raimondo’s $5 million in campaign expenditures, while TV buys comprised about one-third of more than $3.5 million Pell spent over the entire election cycle, and 40% of the $2.5 million spent by the Taveras campaign.   

“What we are seeing is that in state and local primary races in Rhode Island, TV is not always king,” said Democratic media strategist Peter Fenn.  “Some of the candidates who were most successful spent their money on organizational efforts rather on the nuclear option which is TV.  TV gets you in the game especially if you have low name recognition, but it doesn't always get you across the finish line.”