12th District Congressional campaign goes on the air, but not here

Democrat C.J. Baricevic, a Belleville attorney hoping to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of Murphysboro in the 12th Congressional District, fired off the first volley of that race’s television ad war Friday.

According to records filed with the Federal Communication Commission, Baricevic’s campaign bought at least $14,400 worth of air time on television stations serving the southern part of the district.

The stations began airing the candidate’s first commercial Friday.

Here’s how the purchases break down:

▪  Baricevic’s campaign on Thursday forked over $10,440 to buy 51 commercial slots on WSIL-TV, based in Harrisburg. The ad will run 13 times in what remains of August, with the first having aired Friday. The remaining 38 will air in September.

▪  Also Thursday, the campaign spent $3,960 on 17 slots on Cape Girardeau, Mo.-based KFVS. The commercial will air in five times the rest of this month, also starting Friday. The remaining 12 will air next month. While based in Missouri, KFVS also broadcasts near Carbondale.

Baricevic’s campaign has not purchased any air time on the St. Louis stations that serve the metro-east.

So far, Bost’s campaign has not purchased any TV air time on any station serving the district. But Evan Handy, Bost’s campaign manager, said Friday that “TV ads, mailers, and events will be forthcoming.”

According to Kent Redfield, an Illinois politics expert and professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois Springfield, getting ads on the air by the end of August is the new normal in campaigns.

“Four years ago, eight years ago, this would have been unusual,” Redfield said. “Now, if you’ve got the resources, it’s just a fact of life. If you’ve got the resources, you get people on the air. This is not dramatically early.”

Redfield said ads are expensive to air, and that expense is a function of the market in which a candidate hopes to air an ad. The going rates for ad slots in the St. Louis market, for example, are far steeper than in the Cape Girardeau or Carbondale markets.

Redfield said candidates usually try to generate buzz on social media long before inundating television air time with commercials.

Both Bost and Baricevic are active on social media, but only Baricevic has paid for online advertising.

According to quarterly reports filed by Baricevic’s campaign with the Federal Election Commission, the campaign spent $1,135 on Facebook ads and $207 on Google ads between April and the end of June.

Reports for that same period filed by Bost’s campaign show he did not purchase any online ads.

This story was originally published August 26, 2016 at 3:23 PM with the headline "12th District Congressional campaign goes on the air, but not here."