With June 5 primaries a little more than a month away, nearly all the Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls have appeared in campaign ads on the television airways. This is especially true in the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids markets, whose TV broadcasts sprawl across most of central and eastern Iowa.
The Daily Iowan sifted through the last few weeks of ad spending by each of the campaigns, which is available on the Federal Communications Commission website. Public data are available for contracts for all of the Iowa TV news stations.
Hubbell: April 23 to May 6 — $243,000
Out of the six current Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls, Fred Hubbell was first out of the gate with TV ads starting in October 2017, and his campaign has spent more than $2 million, according to aggregate data collected by The Iowa Starting Line.
In the last few weeks, he’s outpaced the next closest candidate by 4 to 1 and has continued to be the only Democratic hopeful to be advertising in the Sioux City and Davenport in addition to Cedar Rapids and Des Moines markets.
He’s launched approximately a dozen ads highlighting his platform, including restoring Planned Parenthood funds and addressing mental health, privatized Medicaid, and the budget.
Boulton: April 17 to April 30 — $94,000
Democratic Des Moines Sen. Nate Boulton hit the airwaves in mid-January. Keeping the campaign’s five advertisements in the Cedar Rapids and Des Moines markets, his campaign manager, Joe O’Hern, said the campaign didn’t plan to expand into other areas of Iowa before the primaries. The Boulton campaign is the closest in spending behind Hubbell, with about half a million invested in advertisements.
Glasson: Hasn’t advertised since March
Union leader and Democratic hopeful Cathy Glasson was not far behind when she launched her first ad Jan. 18. Since then, she’s spent $250,000. Like Boulton, Glasson has kept her campaign spending in the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids markets. As for the last two weeks, no ads have run since March, but communications director Roger Ouellette said the campaign would put up more ads in May.
Her four ads highlight her support for $15 minimum wage, universal health care, and union rights.
Reynolds: April 16 to May 6 — $105,755
Republican incumbent Kim Reynolds started running ads April 12. She will be the only Republican vying for the nomination, securing her place in the general election come November.
Since launching her ad, it’s aired in the Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, and Sioux City markets.
Her ad focused on lowering Iowa taxes.
McGuire
Family doctor and Democratic hopeful Andy McGuire began airing her sole advertisement April 24, which highlighted her experience as a medical professional and focused on health care.
She has nearly $100,000 reserved for the coming weeks until the primary.
Norris and Wilburn
State and federal government administrator and Democratic hopeful John Norris will air TV ads next Tuesday, a campaign official said an email to The Daily Iowan. However, records aren’t listed with the Federal Communications Commission, and the campaign did not return messages to clarify by the time of publication.
Former Iowa City Mayor Ross Wilburn, running in the Democratic primaries, will not run TV advertisements before the primary, campaign manager Rob Karwath said. However, he said, the campaign has been promoting on social media and other online platforms.
Digital advertising
Although records to track online- and digital-ad spending are not readily available, most campaigns told The Daily Iowan they were running heavy ads on platforms such as Facebook and Pandora.
Former national Democratic campaign staffer Pat Rynard, who runs The Iowa Starting Line, said finances are key, but it may not determine the outcome of the primaries.
“A lot of folks may get media online, but still the vast majority of people voting only hear about this stuff from what comes on their TV,” Rynard said. “That financial advantage is going to be very key, but does not mean that that they will automatically connect as well with the voters.”