UPDATED 8/29/24 6:06: To include confirmation of the ad from Brown.

The Senate race reaches your TV…as advertising. (created with submitted photos and Google images)

In the final week of the Democratic primary for the Hampden Senate district, the race is moving onto the airwaves. Springfield City Councilor Malo Brown has purchased airtime on the Springfield-Holyoke media market’s broadcast networks. Though modest, the ads will consume a considerable chunk of Brown’s financial resources as his opponent, incumbent Senator Adam Gomez rolls out more endorsements.

A video Brown posted to Facebook that is likely his ad touts his backing from Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and Brown’s boss, State Representative Bud Williams. However, Brown is not alone on the air. Gomez bought ad time, too. Plus, the senator has been rolling out support from other mayors, unions, statewide officials, Council colleagues and Hampden County’s two main law enforcement figures.

Brown introduces himself in the 15-second video and says “It’s time for a change,” while noting his support of Sarno and Williams.

“I’m City Councilor Malo Brown and I’m ready to provide real leadership in the State Senate,” he begins. Subsequent to this article’s posting, Brown confirmed in an email that this video will be the ad he is running.

According to records filed with the Federal Communications Commission, Brown has bought TV time on WWLP and WGGB. This includes some of each’s subchannels. He reserved $3,490 of ad time on WWLP and $1,915 on WGGB, both before accounting for agent commissions.

On-air Apparent. (still via Facebook/Brown campaign)

The ads on WWLP, which is an NBC affiliate, are scheduled to appear on local news, the Today Show, Judge Judy and the hour the station airs Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!. The WGGB ads are mostly during local news programming and Good Morning America.

Television ads in the Springfield market are hardly a fortune. Moreover, Brown’s ad buys are modest. Williams, for whom Brown serves as an aide, has purchased $6,771 in ad buys between the two TV stations. (The difference is on WWLP as Brown and Williams’s buys for WGGB appear identical.)

Still, these ads will dent Brown’s campaign war chest. He ended July with $9,149 in the bank. August reports are unlikely to be available before the primary. However, data reported to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign & Political Finance shows Brown took in at least $6,150 this month so far. (Gomez had $74,314 at the end of July and has taken in at least $17,775 since.)

That will leave Brown with much less funding for other campaign expenditures, including mailers. These remains crucial in low-awareness elections like this Democratic primary for State Senate. The Hampden Senate district includes over seven-eighths of Springfield and the southerly precincts of Chicopee.

Gomez’s district in goldenrod. (via malegislature.gov)

For his part, Gomez is spending $5,930 on ads before commission fees just on WWLP. While largely targeting the same viewer blocks as Brown, Gomez has reserved several 30-second blocks, which are obviously more expensive than the 15-second slot Brown opted for.

Neither candidate has purchased ads on Facebook or Instagram, according to the the ad library, their parent company, maintains.

Gomez is also rolling out endorsements. The Pioneer Valley Building Trades, the Massachusetts Building Trades Council, the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 4 Sheet Metal Workers, Local 63 and United Food & Commercial Workers, Local 1459 have endorsed the incumbent.

Since last Wednesday, the senator has highlighted backing from Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia, Chicopee Mayor John Vieau, Hampden Sheriff Nicholas Cocchi, at-large City Councilor Kateri Walsh, Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni, School Committee members Joesiah Gonzalez, Denise Hurst and LaTonia Monroe Naylor and US Senator Ed Markey.

“He has been a great leader for Springfield and for Chicopee and for everyone in our great commonwealth,” Markey says, urging residents of the district to vote in a selfie-style video. “His voice is one where when he speaks, everyone listens.”

As significant as the support from Markey or the School Committee members is, the backing from Cocchi and Gulluni may have a special meaning. Brown has attempted to paint Gomez as an anti-police radical. In addition to misrepresenting Gomez’s position on the appointment of Lawrence Akers to lead the Springfield Police Department, Brown has misleadingly cited two votes Gomez took on police funding to claim he defunded the police.

“Adam is a leader who can keep our community and streets safe,” Cocchi says in the video.

Gulluni asserts he’s supporting Gomez “because he’s smart on crime and he has the record to back it up.”

 

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A post shared by Adam Gomez (@electadamgomez)

However anodyne those comments may be, the speakers themselves contradict claims that Gomez does not take public safety seriously. In that same vein, Gomez also announced the backing of Attorney General Andrea Campbell. Campbell’s statement did not mention crime. Yet, as AG, she chairs the District Attorney’s Association and is broadly understood to be a law enforcement figure.

“From fighting for victims and survivors, holding large utilities accountable, to ensuring foreclosure protections for homeowners, he centers the people and works hard to deliver tangible relief for them,” Campbell said according to a statement Gomez’s campaign released.

 

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A post shared by Adam Gomez (@electadamgomez)

The videos Gomez has posted could be crammed into that 30-second ad window he’s reserved. Notably, the Cocchi/Gulluni/Walsh video is exactly 30 seconds.

A bigger question about both the television advertising and the endorsements is their impact. The issue is not the impact themselves but whether they have come soon enough.

Since the pandemic, when Massachusetts began expanding voting options in earnest, voters have begun to change their habits often voting well before Election Day.

On Tuesday, the Secretary of State’s office released early voting data showing that 409,821 ballot had been cast in the primary as of 4pm that day. These were overwhelmingly via mail-in ballot. The data the Secretary’s office released did not break down by legislative districts. However, Chicopee and Springfield both showed healthy interest relative to their historical voting behavior.

Early voting continues through this weekend. Ballots received via mail-in applications can be mailed or dropped off at local election offices provided they reach their destination by Election Day.

In addition to in-person voting on September 3, this leaves time for Brown and Gomez to reach many voters. However, many others assuredly made their decision before the candidates’ messages flashed on the television or phone screens.