Virginia advertising airtime now a hot commodity

With Virginia set to play a leading role in the presidential race and the fight over control of the U.S. Senate, candidates and outside political groups are already scrambling to lock down television airtime for millions of dollars’ worth of campaign commercials that won’t hit the airwaves for months.

Democrat Tim Kaine, a candidate for Virginia’s open U.S. Senate seat, recently purchased $2.5 million in television time for the fall campaign, in the latest indication of just how hot a commodity airtime in the Old Dominion is becoming. The National Republican Senatorial Committee in April bought $5.5 million in airtime for ads it expects to run in various markets around the state.