Behind the scenes of the Republican ad wars
Reagan Knopp gets the inside scoop from the top GOP gubernatorial campaigns on their campaign advertising
Placing campaign advertising has become more challenging in our current fragmented media market. Candidates and PACs can’t just “buy TV ads”. Traditional broadcast is usually the most expensive (although not in small markets like Bend). Then there is cable which can typically be bought by channel and targeted by zip code. OTT is a streaming product like Hulu Live TV or YouTube TV which delivers a cable package via the Internet. TV ads are also seen as video ads on news websites, and on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. Pure streaming services like Hulu, HBO Max and others have ad inventory that’s sometimes available to candidates as well. The idea of TV ads has turned into video as a medium to be placed via many different channels.
With disclosure of campaign expenditures sometimes delayed by up to seven days (per Oregon law and election rules), we are unlikely to get a complete picture of what is happening in elections real time. I reached out to several of the top governor campaigns, they provided me their ads and some of their spending. Here is the breakdown of the Republican ad wars.
Dr. Bud Pierce
Exclusive to readers of The Liftoff this morning, Dr. Bud Pierce has debuted his new TV ad which takes aim at his rivals using the monikers “negative insiders” and “career politicians”.
Information on the size of the buy isn’t yet available, but Dr. Pierce recently wrote his campaign a personal check for $500,000. I’d imagine a sizable chunk of that will be for TV (I’ll try to update you next week). The ad was produced by New Media Northwest.
Christine Drazan
Team Drazan started their ad campaign with “A New Direction”. They debuted a public safety focused spot last Monday. Drazan is the biggest spender by far with a reported $450,000 in TV ads and approaching $100,000 in digital. I’ve seen her ads in my Instagram feed a lot over the past two or three weeks. Mike Slanker is her media advisor.
Bob Tiernan
Tiernan wasn’t the first candidate to file, but he vaulted himself into the competition with a $500,000 loan and another $500,000 from former business partners. His ad “Bull” debuted on March 31st. I was staring at my phone when I heard the *bleep* in his ad and it did get me to look up—so perhaps this new influx of GOP primary ad “fake swearing” has it’s purpose. Tiernan has bought $250,000 in TV and $140,000 in digital and social media. He’s the second largest spender among all candidates (at least until we find out how much Pierce plans to spend). His media producer and buyer is FP1 Strategies.
Bridget Barton
Barton was the first to kick of the near-swear fad (at least among Oregon Republican candidates in 2022). Her ad “No Horse Sh!% Outsider” debuted with a $100,000 buy (half TV and half digital) during March Madness. This as was produced by Madison McQueen. Side note: The behind the back shot at the end is real, but wasn’t her first attempt, I’m told.
Stan Pulliam
Pulliam debuted two fresh 15 seconds ads on Wednesday, title “The Conservative Fighter on TV”. The first opposes mandates and critical race theory, the second focuses exclusively on opposition to transgender athletes in girls sports. No information on the size of the buy was available (look for an update next week). He placed a “New Year, New Governor” ad on January 1st backed by $60,000.
Kerry McQuisten
Baker City Mayor Kerry McQuisten is the smallest TV buyer up to this point. Her “Bring back the Oregon we love” ad features some testimonials about her opposition to lockdowns and support to return Oregon to a focus on constitutional principles. The total spend is an oddly specific $49,999 ($39,000 in TV and the rest in digital.
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