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$1 BILLION SPENT ON ADS IN CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS Parties, Groups Used Up Piles of Now-Banned Soft Money Donations By Will Lester, the Associated Press, Reported in Las Vegas Review-Journal, 12-06-02 WASHINGTON - Political parties, candidates and interest groups spent about $1 billion on television advertising for the midterm congressional elections to use up reserves of now-banned contributions. A campaign finance law that took effect Nov. 6, the day after the vote, prohibits national party committees from raising and spending soft money, the unlimited contributions for corporations, unions and others that parties use for activities such as issue ads, get-out-the-vote drives and operating costs. "There were so few races in play that there was a lot of money chasing a few races," said Ken Goldstein, a political scientist who is director of the Wisconsin Advertising Project. "Advertising matters at the margins and can influence 2, 3 or 4 percentage points of the vote. "But we are living in a time where politics and elections are decided at the margins," he said. The United Seniors Association, a group backed by pharmaceutical companies, spent $8.7 million for television ads, with much of that supporting Republican House candidates. That amount was almost three times more than any other group spent on campaign ads. United Seniors spent the money on more than 15,000 ad spots in 35 markets. The Democratic-leaning AFL-CIO was a distant second, spending $3.5 million on more than 5,600 ad spots in nearly 15 markets. Next were the business-backed, GOP-leaning Americans for Job Security, at $1.5 million, and the Democratic-leaning groups Emily's List, at $1.3 million. The Sierra Club spent $1.2 million and the Florida Education Association $1.1 million. Republican House candidates spent almost 20 percent less than their Democratic opponents, according to the final report of the Wisconsin Advertising Project, which monitors data from the 100 top media markets around the country. That covers 85 percent of the population. Senate Democratic candidates outspent Republicans, and Democrats got more financial help from their party and interest groups. Spending on congressional races this year was close to $320 million, almost twice as much as in 1998, the last mid-term elections. The $1 billion in advertising included a little more than $420 million spent on governors' races and $64 million spent on other races. The rest was spent in other areas such as issue ads. WORKING TOGETHER TO ATTAIN FAIRNESS | ||
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