Mayoral candidate Steve Francis went on television today with a new ad, marking the third television spot in his unprecedented airtime investment.
Last month, 15 weeks away from the general election, Francis went on air and promised to be there until the June 3 primary. At the time, his campaign said he was spending about $100,000 a week in television airtime alone. Francis, who is independently wealthy, is self-financing his campaign and is expected to spend several millions of dollars.
His opponent, Mayor Jerry Sanders, on the other hand, has struggled to keep up and likely won’t hit television until a few weeks away of the election.
While his two introductory, biographical ads focused on his business experience and community service, this one really (titled “Hi”) centers on Francis’ pledge not to take any campaign contributions. That sets up one of his new digs at Sanders, indirectly, with Francis saying he’ll work for the public, not for developers. It features a number of different shots of the candidate walking down the street one-on-one with a whole host of diverse folks.
It also gets back to the “New Steve” that was unveiled at his campaign announcement in January, noting that the former hard-line Republican is going to tap Democrats and independents to help him.
Here’s the ad:
And here’s the transcript:
FRANCIS: I’m Steve Francis and I paid for this ad. In fact, I’m paying for every one of my ads. Because I’m running for mayor to be independent of the special interests.
I won’t take a dime. I won’t owe them a thing.
I’ll take the best ideas of the Democrats, Republicans and Independents to strengthen our economy, improve services, protect our air and water and finally fix the budget mess.
I’ll be an independent mayor. Instead of delivering for big developers, I’ll deliver for you.
NARRATOR: Steve Francis, An Independent Mayor. For a change.
The campaign didn’t immediately identify how much would be spent on the ad buy.
— ANDREW DONOHUE
Update: Francis campaign manager Charles Gallagher said the buy would cost $100,000, but wouldn’t say for how much time that would cover. The previous buy was estimated to cost $100,000 a week for the first two weeks.