Why are there so many political ads on local TV?

(Analysis by decorahnews.com's Paul Scott):

The latest campaign financing disclosures have been filed with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.  They are snapshots of how much money the candidates have raised and how they are spending that money.  But they also provide some clues about how many modern political campaigns are run.

Take, for instance, the Iowa House District 55 race between incumbent Republican Michael Bergan and Democratic challenger Kayla Koether.  Bergan's October 19th campaign disclosure report shows he had $45,845 in donations during the months leading up to the election.  The report also says he spent $53,526 and is left with $4,619 in reserve (he began the reporting period with some funds).

But the disclosure form also notes that Bergan has benefited from $374,137 in "In-Kind Donations."  Almost all of that total--roughly $372,000--is in the form of advertising paid for by the Republican Party of Iowa.  $344,00 worth of the advertising is for TV commercials.

Bergan's opponent, Democrat Kayla Koether, has even bigger numbers.  Her October 19th campaign disclosure report shows she had $274,040 in donations during the months leading up to the election.  And in Koether's case, there were $440,840 in "In-Kind Donations."  $389,240 of that total paid for TV commercials or video production.

The numbers in the State Senate race in District 28 are smaller--Republican Mike Klimesh had $109,201 in "In-Kind Donations," with $37,311 in TV commercials or video production, while Democrat Matt Tapscott had $43,538 in "In-Kind Donations," with none of it spent on TV commercials.

These are just two races for the Iowa Legislature--there are 50 state senate districts and 100 state assembly districts.  But in just one Iowa State Assembly race, the two political parties spent over $733,000 on TV commercials.

"Why are there so many political ads on TV?" is a question we get asked frequently.  The answer is that, for the most part, they are commercials paid for by the two political parties, not the candidates.  That might explain why different political ads on TV have a sameness to them--they are all being produced by either the Republican Party or Democratic Party in Iowa, and usually not by the candidates.

For their part, are the candidates influenced by their political party spending over $300,000 in TV ads for their campaign?  They would say no, but the two political parties have a variety of reasons for wanting their candidates to win.  Also, while individual candidates are required by state law to disclose the identities of organizations and individuals who make contributions to their campaign, the political parties are not required to disclose where $300,000 of their money came from.

Finally, another comment we hear frequently is that politics is getting very partisan in recent years.  Having political parties pay for campaign advertising instead of the candidates themselves might be one explanation for the rise in partisanship.