Ads bashing Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton are showing up more frequently on Colorado television stations.
The races for the 6th and 3rd Congressional Districts continue to draw plenty of attention, as well.
Over all, almost $69 million is being spent on political TV advertising in Colorado this year, based on contracts filed by TV stations and Comcast Spotlight with the Federal Communications Commission through Oct. 21. Comcast Spotlight sells most cable and satellite advertising in the state.
The latest developments:
- Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump increased his ad buys in the state by more than $800,000. His contracts now total nearly $5 million, compared to $3.1 million for Clinton. That includes primary season advertising and ads that ran in June and July.
- The National Rifle Association is spending more than $262,000 on ads criticizing Clinton’s gun policies. The ads run through the end of this week.
Stop Hillary PAC is spending nearly $270,000 on ads against the Democratic candidate in the next two weeks.
In the U.S. Senate race, Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet trimmed his Front Range ad spending at some stations. But Bennet increased his spending in Grand Junction, just a week after some stations there reported canceled contracts. The incumbent’s ad spending now stands at about $8.3 million.
Darryl Glenn, Bennet’s GOP opponent, increased his spending by more than $380,000 last week, but has yet to reach $700,000 in contracts.
While several stations have yet to file cancelations of contracts reserved by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, they’re being removed from the tally this week. It’s clear the DSCC won’t bother with Colorado.
In congressional races, here's a look at both ad buys and independent spending reported to the Federal Elections Commission illuminates recent increases in ad buys:
- The Congressional Leadership Fund is spending up to $1.7 million on ads attacking former state Sen. Gail Schwartz, a Democrat, in her attempt to unseat U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton in the 3rd Congressional District. That district includes south and western Colorado.
- The House Majority PAC is spending more than $800,000 on ads attacking Tipton. That group is spending $4.3 million in Colorado overall.
- Former state Senate President Morgan Carroll increased her ad spending lead over Republican Rep. Mike Coffman in the 6th CD. The Democrat’s ad buy totals topped $3 million, while Coffman’s are near $2 million. The 6th CD is located in Aurora and suburbs south of Denver.
Several state Senate candidates are airing ads on cable TV. The national nonprofit group America Votes is airing ads featuring Gov. John Hickenlooper supporting four Democratic Senate candidates in the metro area. No stations filed contracts for the ads, and America Votes has yet to file an independent spending report with the Secretary of State.
Here’s a look at political ad buys totally $20,000 or more through based on FCC contracts filed through Oct. 21:
