The ad started running on 13abc this morning. It's a stripped down 15 second ad for Ben Konop.
In a political war, an early air attack can set the pace. "I guess we're running an aggressive campaign. We're trying to get our message out and we're confident in our message," says Konop.
"I mean, we have 50 what they call mini billboards," says Jim Moody. Republican Jim Moody's prepared for this fight. He has signs, a van, and volunteers knocking on doors. He'll spend money on TV ads at some point, but right now his is a ground campaign. "We feel that's how we're going to win this campaign, just by brute strength of going out and meeting people, which I think is really the way to win," he says.
Democrat Keith Wilkowski doesn't deny television's importance in the race. When he announced back in December, he ran TV spots. But he says his spots had substance. He says, "We used 60 second commercials because there's a lot to talk about as far as this economy goes and how you put people to work in such a tough environment."
But as for the Konop ads, you'll see it a lot over the next 2 weeks. He bought enough time for 180 airings.
Candidate Mike Bell has a local marketing firm running his campaign and they tell me his TV ads will running closer to the September primary.
