In Campaign Ad Race, Bloomberg and Corzine Dominate Opponents

With less than a month to go before Election Day, Nielsen analyzed the ad buys in three of the most anticipated political races this year:

NEW YORK CITY: Incumbent Mayor Mike Bloomberg is dominating his competition in the ad buying race. Between June 1^st and September 20^th, Bloomberg purchased 4,706 TV ads in the New York market – no small feat considering New York is one of the most expensive markets in the country. The figure dwarfs the number of ads bought by Democratic challenger Bill Thompson, whose campaign bought just 14 TV ads over the same period – all of which ran on or after September 18^th.

NEW JERSEY: Recent polls show a slim lead for former prosecutor Chris Christie over incumbent Governor John Corzine. But since Christie was tapped as the Republican nominee back in June, the ad race has been much more lopsided in favor of his Democratic rival. Gov. Corzine has placed 3 ½ times more TV ads from June 3^rd to September 20^th, outscoring Christie 4,806 to 1,393 in the New York City and Philadelphia markets combined.

VIRGINIA: In the Old Dominion governor’s race, Republican Robert McDonnell hopes that history repeats itself as he takes on a Democratic opponent in Creigh Deeds whom he narrowly beat out for the attorney general seat four years ago. Since the Virginia primary ended in June, McDonnell has placed more ads across Virginia’s multiple TV markets with a score of 4,382 to 3,986 through September 20^th. But more recently, Deeds has been a bigger presence on Virginans’ TV sets with 3,028 ads in the first three weeks of September alone compared to 2,753 ad buys for McDonnell.