Republican gubernatorial hopefuls Bob Ehrlich and Brian Murphy are airing their first television advertisements this week with the primary election just nine days away.
Ehrlich is spending roughly $153,000 for two-week spots on Baltimore’s NBC and CBS affiliates, WBAL-TV and WJZ. His first ads will air Sunday.
“We think the ads will help people getting a clearer picture of the governor and his plans,” said Ehrlich spokesman Andy Barth.
The former governor’s campaign would not discuss plans for future television ads — or explain why Ehrlich chose to air ads before the primary election, which he is expected to win by a large margin. “We don’t discuss strategic moves like that,” Barth said. “We’ve been working on an ad-buying schedule for a long time — since the beginning of the campaign. And we’re on schedule with that.”
Murphy, a Montgomery County businessman and political newcomer, debuted his first TV ad on a Jumbotron at Frederick’s minor league baseball stadium Friday night.
The ad is scheduled to air statewide three times on Fox News, each during the Glenn Beck show — with the last one airing the night before the Sept. 14 primaries.
The Beck spot is in line with Murphy’s far-right platform — which he uses to push back against his Republican challenger — but it’s a contentious pick with dozens of corporations boycotting the show for Beck’s remarks last year calling President Obama “a racist.”
Murphy doesn’t address that in his ad, which focuses on small businesses and fiscal conservatism.
“I’m running to fix the budget,” he says from the arm of a couch where his wife and four young children are sitting. “In the last eight years, our last two governors forgot their roles. … In the last eight years, the entrepreneurial spirit has been choked in Maryland.”
Gov. Martin O’Malley, who has millions more to spend on advertising than his Republican challengers, began airing TV ads in July that centered on job creation.
Extra TV time could give O’Malley the power to “define” the major debates and tone of the campaign, according to Nathan Gonzales, political editor of nonpartisan newsletter the Rothenberg Political Report.
But Barth said money isn’t a concern for the Erhlich camp.
“We have the money to do what we need to do,” he said.
