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Going into the final weekend of the mayor's race, businesswoman Eileen Brady and former city commissioner Charlie Hales have both made huge buys of TV advertising time, trying desperately not to finish last in a close, three-way battle with state Rep. Jefferson Smith.
Records obtained by WW from the four major network affiliates show the Brady campaign has purchased $149,954 of TV advertising time since May 2. In that same time period, Hales has made $105,060 in ad buys, while Smith has purchased $42,805.
Most of the candidates' ad buys are for commercial slots during morning and evening news programming, although a brief perusal of the contracts shows Jeopardy! and Judge Judy are also popular selections. Brady's campaign was the only one to shell out for time during last night's new episode of American Idol. That single 30-second spot cost $3,800.
(Update: Records from Comcast show Smith has
spent
$14,248 since May 2 for advertising time on cable. Hales has purchased $8,235; Comcast says it has no record of Brady buying advertising time.)
Polls show the race essentially locked in a three-way tie with ballots due Tuesday. As of this morning, about 16 percent of ballots have been mailed in, according to Multnomah County Elections.
State records show Brady's spending topped $1.1 million this week—as much as more than Smith and Hales put together. Brady has loaned herself $125,000. The records show a cash balance of about $15,000 and a campaign deficit of $127,000—the result of Brady's loans.
Hales has spent $661,000, and Jefferson Smith has spent $451,000.
—Alex Tomchak Scott contributed to this report.
WWeek 2015