Political ad blitz fills Texas airwaves
As candidates in the midterms vie for voters, some Texas races are racking up hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign spending- including millions spent on TV ads.
Some Texans say they’re feeling inundated with campaign messages.
Others say they see the same advertisements every time they turn on the TV.
Michael Schneider, vice president of legal and regulatory affairs for the Texas Association of Broadcasters, said federal rules require stations to air ads placed by federal candidates.
“Stations are required to run ads that are placed by federal candidates. They cannot refuse them. State and local races, they have a choice, but once they sell to one candidate in that race, they have to sell to all candidates in that race.”
Stations have more flexibility with ads from outside groups, but Schneider said they cannot censor ads placed by candidates, even when stations believe the claims are false or misleading.
“If you see ads that are placed by campaigns that are you know, falsehoods, fudging the truth, etc. A station can’t censor that ad because it’s been placed by a candidate.”
Campaign ads must disclose who paid for political ads.
“It has to a certain height, it has to up for a certain amount of time in the ad, it usually happens at the end of it,” Schneider said.
With Election Day a week away, the ads will stop soon. Until then, viewers can expect to keep seeing them.
The U.S. Senate race in Texas is the most expensive in U.S. history, with the campaigns of Ken Paxton and James Talarico spending a combined $500 million.
Schneider also said significant money is being spent in races for two U.S. House seats. The contests in District 34, between Vicente Gonzalez and Eric Flores, and District 15, between Monica De La Cruz and Bobby Pulido, are among the most expensive congressional races in the country this cycle.
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