Democrats paying for own TV ads in Eastern Iowa, while many GOP candidates using Super PACs

Democrats running for president have paid for nearly all their own Eastern Iowa television ads so far in the lead up to Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses, while most Republicans are relying on outside groups to pay for TV time.

A Gazette analysis of presidential campaign ads that started June 1 through Nov. 13 on KCRG-TV9, KWWL and KGAN showed 6,729 spots - an average of 40 per day - worth $3.85 million by candidates and Super PACs.

The biggest spender so far is Democrat Hillary Clinton, with just over $1 million on 2,077 ads in the Cedar Rapids/Waterloo/Dubuque television market from June 1 through mid-November. All but one of those ads was paid for by Clinton's campaign.

'It's not unusual they're paying a lot of attention in terms of ad buys and visits” to Iowa, Donna Hoffman, associate political science professor at the University of Northern Iowa, said of the Clinton campaign.

Clinton was the perceived front-runner before Iowa's 2008 Democratic caucuses, Hoffman said, but then she came in third behind President Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards.

'Her campaign 2.0 has been really careful about organizing and not taking the state for granted,” Hoffman said.

On the Republican side, leaders Donald Trump and Ben Carson have spent very little on TV ads in Eastern Iowa, The Gazette's analysis showed.

Carson for President paid $50,675 for ads on KCRG-TV9, KWWL and KGAN so far this season. Billionaire Trump hasn't spent a dime.

'Trump is getting a lot of free time in the media because of who he is,” Hoffman said.

The Club for Growth ran $207,175 worth of anti-Trump ads, including one saying the development mogul is more liberal than Clinton or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. But the campaign couldn't touch Trump who, like his hair, seems to be impervious to the elements.

Trump had a narrow lead over Sen. Ted Cruz, 25 percent to 23 percent of likely Republican caucusgoers, in a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday.

'Folks a little further down have had to spend more,” said Tim Hagle, an associate political science professor from the University of Iowa.

Three Super PACs spent $933,000 on TV ads for Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal before he dropped of the GOP race last week. Jeb Bush's PAC Right to Rise spent $708,000 on 795 ads in Eastern Iowa since June 1.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who has had no Eastern Iowa TV ads, has chosen to spend his money on radio, said Steve Grubbs, the campaign's chief strategist of Iowa.

'We don't believe investing millions in TV would change our position,” he said.

Five percent of likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers supported Paul in the Quinnipiac poll.

Grubbs, chairman of Victory Enterprises, a political consulting firm based in Davenport, said although candidates don't have to pay for Super PAC ads, they lose out on honing the message because they're not allowed to communicate with the support groups that can collect unlimited cash and don't have to name donors.

'You want to have specific messaging at specific times,” he said. 'That's out of your hands if a Super PAC is handling your message.”

But the firewall between campaigns and Super PACS has weakened, Hoffman said. Members of Super PAC Carly for America have staffed candidate Fiorina's campaign events in Iowa and New Hampshire, according to news reports.

Political ads made up about 18 percent of all advertising on KCRG-TV9 from June 1 through mid-November, said Steve Lake, national sales director.

He expects that to ramp up the Feb. 1 caucus draws closer. After Dec. 18, candidates are entitled to the lowest rate for each class of TV ad, including those that may be pre-empted and non-pre-emptible. PACs don't get discounts.

TV viewers also should expect more negative ads in December and January, analysts said.

'The real test is in January,” Grubbs said. 'That's when things will get more serious.”