Friday, April 4, 2014

LISTEN, KNOWN UNKNOWN: New National Group Buys $100,000+ In Phoenix Ads APPARENTLY Targeting Mesa Mayor Scott Smith Because... (FOLLOWING MONEY IN ARIZONA'S POLITICS)

(UPDATE, 4/5/14, 9:00am: An updated version of this article is here. The FCC filing linked below was removed and a new, larger one was filed. And, more.)

This is an interesting one.  A new $100,000+ political ad campaign begins running today in the Phoenix market, APPARENTLY targeting Mesa Mayor and GOP Gubernatorial candidate Scott Smith BECAUSE he is the current President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

The video is not yet available online, although the group does post a 60-second radio ad that targets Smith.

The radio spot (which Arizona's Politics has not confirmed as actually being on the air) focuses its fire on the U.S. Conference of Mayors as not being a non-partisan group, and that "a majority of their public positions only promote left-wing positions." (emphasis added)

The radio spots also appear to target the Mayors who are Vice Presidents of the Mayors' group - the Democratic Mayors of Sacramento and Baltimore.  (And yes, that would be former Phoenix Suns' star Kevin Johnson.)

The television spot begins airing this afternoon, and an FCC filing showing a total market buy of $111,125.

The group has apparently not yet filed as a political committee with Arizona's Secretary of State, and there is little information about it available on the internet.

Arizona's Politics has left messages with the relevant parties seeking more information.  We'll supplement as new information becomes available.


We welcome your comments about this post. Or, if you have something unrelated on your mind, please e-mail to info-at-arizonaspolitics-dot-com or call 602-799-7025. Thanks.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

You misspelled Presidents - The Radio spots ....Vice "Preisdents"

Mitch M. said...

Thanks, Mignonne - for reading, catching and pointing out! Corrected that, and another that neither of us had caught at first.