Money to burn: Goldman pumps millions into TV in NY-10 contest

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He passed rival candidate Rep more than three times. Mondary Jones, the only other competitor on the airwaves, and far beyond the typical House primaries in New York. The outsized spending on a tool more often used by city and state candidates shows just how much money has sunk into Goldman’s war chest — partly out of his own pocket.

“In a race for Congress where you expect low turnout, there are far more efficient ways to spend your money than making a big broadcast buy in the last two weeks,” said political consultant Basil Smikle Jr. ., Who does not work. for anyone in the race.

Campaigns often rely on direct mail, text messaging, phone calls, and door-to-door canvassing to reach a specific group of the city’s electorate. And while TV spending is an effective way to tell a story to potential supporters, Smikle said, it’s both an expensive and a brutal tool.

The city’s media market is the most expensive in the country. And local broadcast stations deliver messages to televisions not only in the five boroughs, but also in the greater metropolitan area. While such breadth is essential for mayoral or gubernatorial candidates, congressional seats only geographically cover a small area of ​​the city, making these types of media buys rare in contests. from the room.

“You’re wasting your spend on 90% of people who see your ad,” said Matthew Rey of Red Horse Strategies, which is not affiliated with the race. “So is that a powerful way to persuasively and effectively reach that remaining 10%? Yes. But dollar for dollar, that’s a luxury.

Goldman can afford it.

The Tribeca resident reported the biggest haul in the district last month, raking in more than $1.2 million in the second quarter. Goldman brought in the most money from within the district of any of the 13 candidates. But like everyone competing for the open seat, the majority of his money came from outside the district, which covers lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn.

In particular, Goldman was able to tap into a network of family and friends connected to the Levi Strauss & Co. fortune – of which he is the heir – to raise over $200,000. And over the weekend, his campaign filed documents with the Federal Election Commission showing that Goldman donated $1 million to his campaign. If he won, Goldman would be one of the richest members of Congress.

The former prosecutor’s camp has said it does not spend money on television at the expense of other forms of engagement.

“This is an August 23 primary. We know turnout will be low and we are strategically allocating our resources across a strong digital, postal, cable, broadcast and field program to provide Dan’s supports. across the district,” spokeswoman Simone Kanter said in a statement. “The overwhelming support we’ve received during this race makes it clear that Dan is the candidate to meet this moment.”

In fact, Kanter noted, the campaign has largely maximized what it can do with more targeted reach, which is why it’s running with such an ad buy.

Since June, Goldman has appeared on a wide variety of shows, according to FCC records. Over a span of several days starting July 14, for example, the campaign landed 30-second spots airing the full gamut of programming on WNBC, including hits on “The Today Show,” the long-running soap opera “ Days of our Lives”, “NBC Nightly News” and “The Tonight Show”. Rates ranged from $300 to $35,000, which translated to a payment of $17,500 for five spots during the evening news, for example.

On cable, Goldman managed to land a spot on NY1 around 7 p.m. Wednesday — just before the contest’s first televised debate.

Jones spent about $784,000 on cable and broadcast advertising, according to AdImpact data from earlier this week, but stuck to a narrower scope. On WABC, Jones paid spots during “Good Morning America” ​​and “Eyewitness News”. Over a multi-day period beginning August 8, a Jones ad also appeared three times during “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at a total cost of $4,800.

While Goldman’s spending makes him an outlier in New York’s congressional contests, it still pales in comparison to the nation’s most competitive Democratic primaries. In the bitter Ohio contest where Rep. Shontel Brown won a rematch against challenger Nina Turner, nearly $30 million was spent on the race.

In fact, AdImpact expects the 2022 midterm election cycle to be the most expensive ever. On Thursday, the firm predicted $9.7 billion would be dropped on races across the country, topping the 2020 presidential cycle by hundreds of millions of dollars.

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