With the election closing in on its final days, little-known legislative candidates for both parties — and more significantly, deep-pocketed outside groups — are rushing the cable airwaves, spending millions of dollars on airtime as they battle to secure control of the State Capitol.
For every shiny, pricey Dick's Sporting Goods ad during a Minnesota Vikings game on one of the TV networks, there's a goofy Dick Enrico's 2nd Wind Exercise spot playing on cable. By the same token, just as certain political ads framed their campaigns — think Ronald Reagan's "Morning in America" — legislative candidates also want in on the action, shelling out campaign cash for 30 seconds of face time on "Househunters" or "The O'Reilly Factor."
"It's been ramping up steadily, but the next two weeks will be extremely busy," said Jill Hornbacher, a spokeswoman for Comcast.
The company said campaigns and outside groups spent more than $4.5 million with Comcast on legislative races in 2014 and expects a 10 to 20 percent increase this year, which would be an even greater increase over the most recent presidential year of 2012. Money on other cable systems will push the total still higher.
Because there is no statewide race this year, business groups, labor unions and wealthy individuals are focused on the Legislature, showering money on about 2 dozen House and Senate districts — most of them in the suburbs — that will determine who controls the Capitol.
The DFL wants to help Gov. Mark Dayton push ahead with universal prekindergarten, a major transportation package backed by a gas tax increase and new employee benefits such as paid family leave.
Republicans want to retain the House and potentially take the Senate so they can shrink the growth of government and go into the 2018 governor's race with momentum.
Unlike in presidential or even congressional races, legislative candidates cannot rely on media exposure to get their names out to voters, who often don't know who their legislators are, let alone the challengers. That's why a 2014 legislative race in Willmar, for example, featured more than 75 pieces of mail trying to sway voters.