Overall, Schauer and his friends at AFSCME, SEIU, the Communications Workers of America and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee are outspending Walberg and friends, $1.6 million to $1.35 million. However, Americans for Prosperity, American Future Fund and the National Republican Campaign Committee are making the ad wars competitive. Mark Schauer’s campaign has spent $487,000 for television, while Republican challenger Tim Walberg’s campaign has spent $91,000. Benishek’s own ads are 6.5 percent of the campaign supporting him, while McDowell’s ads are 37.5 percent of the advertising effort on his side. The campaign of Democratic nominee Gary McDowell has spent nearly three times as much as the campaign of Republican nominee Dan Benishek, $192,000 to $68,000, but Benishek’s helpers at Americans for Prosperity, American Future Fund and the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) give the Benishek campaign a two-to-one advertising advantage over McDowell and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC): $1,045,000 to $512,000. The RGA has established a Michigan state PAC with over $4 million in it, and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce had given the RGA $2,547,500 through June 30th of this year, according to reports filed with the Internal Revenue Service. And if they disagree with my estimates, they can always just come clean and disclose what they’re doing.” “I can only guess that RGA/Target doesn’t want me to be able to define the scale of the black-box through which they’re running their advertising,” Robinson said, “But we’ve got enough data accumulated that I’ll stand behind these estimates. Thus, RGA/Target may be within its legal right, but it is ethically wrong. However, the FCC is silent on candidate-focused “issue” advertising featuring candidates for state offices. The Federal Communications Commission requires broadcasters to maintain public records of advertising related to “issues of national importance,” or candidate-focused electioneering communications about federal candidates. Snyder is serious about wanting better politics in Michigan, he ought to tell his friends at Target and the RGA to release their records to all of the broadcasters’ public files,” Robinson said. Snyder for its MasterCard knock-off ads, a clear indication of intimate coordination between RGA/Target and the Snyder campaign. Snyder’s agency for his successful primary, and it is using B-roll featuring Mr. It is not clear whether this new drive for secrecy originates with the RGA or its advertising agency, Los Angeles-based Target. “The RGA’s posture on disclosure is cowardly and contemptuous of voters’ rights to know who is spending in our political campaigns,” said Rich Robinson of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network. The Michigan Campaign Finance Network, which collects the spending data from the broadcasters and cable systems, was forced to estimate gross sales at a small handful of stations, using market-share estimates derived from a decade of data collection. What is new this year is the fact the Republican Governors Association is leaning on broadcasters to withhold records of its buys from the stations’ public files, and some of the stations are complying. There was $18 million worth of such advertising in the 2006 gubernatorial race, and almost $10 million worth in the general election phase of the 2002 gubernatorial.
![governor national dominate ad wars governor national dominate ad wars](https://freepress.org/sites/default/files/styles/620px_wide/public/main/articles/war-on-drugs-nixon_0.jpg)
There is nothing new about candidate-focused “issue” advertising in Michigan gubernatorial campaigns. On the Democratic side of the campaign, Virg Bernero has spent $995,000 for television advertising, while the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee has spent $2.4 million through October 3rd. In his stead, the Republican Governors Association has purchased $2.1 million worth of ads through October 3rd.
![governor national dominate ad wars governor national dominate ad wars](https://www.petrofilm.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/21121_iran_truer_angrep_mot_trump_for_drap_p%C3%A5_suleimani_twitter_sharp.2131026_std.jpg)
Republican nominee Rick Snyder hasn’t bought a television ad since the August 3rd primary election.
![governor national dominate ad wars governor national dominate ad wars](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/responsive_large_1bEBPk8XAwOuHl3LWnACWA3M2TQiP8HmlTF3oRdLduI.jpeg)
Of the campaigns currently most active on television, the 9th Congressional District is the only one in which candidates’ ads predominate. The candidates’ television campaigns account for less than 20 percent of the TV advertising in the 1st Congressional District, the 7th Congressional District and the gubernatorial campaign. LANSING – Candidates’ television ad campaigns are being overshadowed by third-party ad sponsors in the early phase of three out of four of Michigan’s hottest political campaigns.