Republicans buy Ohio ads but scale back as they look to Virginia

Associated Press

he Republican Party placed $700,000 in television ads in Ohio on Tuesday, a scaled-back ad campaign amid growing doubts by party officials that GOP Sen. Mike DeWine can win re-election in the battleground state.

The ads by the party are smaller than recent million-dollar ad buys by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. But party officials touted the ads as evidence that they were not abandoning the state or giving up on DeWine.

Strategists from both parties were following the Republican steps closely because the GOP had chosen Ohio, Tennessee and Missouri as political fortifications against a Democratic takeover of the Senate. Democrats need a net gain of six seats to win control of the Senate.

Polls this week in Ohio show DeWine trailing his Democratic opponent, Rep. Sherrod Brown, by 7 to 12 percentage points.

Republican Party officials are turning their sights to Virginia to offer needed help to Sen. George Allen, who has been unable to stop a rapidly tightening race with Democrat Jim Webb. Virginia already is part of the party's aggressive voter turnout operation and party officials are said to be weighing a substantial ad campaign in the state as well. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee already is spending about $1.1 million on ads in Virginia against Allen.

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10/18/2006 / Permalink / (all tags)