Senate Dems have dropped ad buys in two races that lean in their favor while bulking up the money they’re putting on the air for seats in the Milwaukee suburbs, Green Bay area and north of Madison, according to AdImpact.
Earlier this month, state Sen. Brad Pfaff, D-Onalaska, had $466,444 in ad reservations between Labor Day and Election Day in the 32nd SD and Dem Appleton Ald. Kristin Alfheim had $863,187 reserved as she seeks the open 18th SD that runs from Oshkosh to Appleton. But neither had any air time reserved anymore as of Monday afternoon, according to AdImpact.
That money has shifted to boost Dem attorney Jody Habush Sinykin as she challenges state Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, in the 8th SD; Dem businessman Jamie Wall as he takes on GOP Allouez Village President Jim Rafter in the 30th; and nonprofit leader Sarah Keyeski as she faces state Sen. Joan Ballweg, R-Markesan, in the 14th.
Andrew Whitley with the State Senate Democratic Committee said the caucus has seen good polling out of both the 18th and 32nd and are confident in where they’re at in both races.
“We’re targeting everything on those three really, really critical ones,” he said of the 8th, 14th and 30th.
Habush Sinykin now has $3.1 million in ad reservations between Labor Day and Election Day, according to AdImpact. That’s up from the $1.8 million she had reserved in early September.
Overall, Habush Sinykin and those supporting her have $4.1 million in reservations over that two-month period, compared to $370,413 on the GOP side.
Meanwhile, Wall now has $2.5 million in reservations over that span, compared to the $1.4 million he laid down earlier this month.
With other Dem groups included, the reservations backing Wall total $2.6 million, compared to $306,338 on the GOP side.
And Keyeski has nearly $1.5 million in ad reservations in the race between Labor Day and Election Day. That’s up from $830,097 reserved earlier this month. Meanwhile, the GOP side has laid down just more than $1.4 million.
Combined, those three Dem candidates now have nearly $7.1 million reserved. Earlier this year, Dems announced plans to spend $7 million in the five Senate races, and Whitley said additional resources are planned for the three seats.
“This is not the end of it,” he said.
The 8th, 14th and 30th are slightly more challenging for Dems than the 18th and 32nd.
Longtime GOP redistricting consultant Joe Handrick rates the 8th, which includes Menomonee Falls, Whitefish Bay and Cedarburg, a 51% GOP seat. He rates the 30th, which includes Ashwaubenon and De Pere as well as Green Bay, a 52% Dem seat. And he has the 14th, which includes areas in Columbia, Sauk and Richland counties, a 52% Dem seat.
Handrick rates the 18th, where Alfheim is running against GOP cancer Dr. Tony Phillips, a 54% Dem seat and the 32nd, where Pfaff faces GOP Trempealeau County Supv. Stacey Klein, a 53% Dem seat.
