RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Ed Gillespie, one of the Republican establishment’s most respected advisers and powerful fundraisers, badly trails in the race for campaign cash and has asked television stations to stop running his ads for Senate with just three weeks left before Election Day.
Reports filed with the Federal Communications Commission show Gillespie’s campaign cancelling or drastically reducing the amount of money it plans to spend on television ads in coming days. At the same time, political operatives who track television advertising said Thursday that Gillespie does not have ads reserved in the final push toward the Nov. 4 elections.
The financial struggles of Gillespie’s campaign are something of a surprise. He was the Republican National Committee chairman, served in President George W. Bush’s administration as a top adviser and was a top lieutenant to 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
That pedigree, however, has not translated to extraordinary fundraising. And that has left Gillespie at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to advertising.
Following a report by The Associated Press about the drop-off in advertising, the Gillespie campaign said Thursday it would launch new rounds of TV ads on Saturday – but it did not specify when or where the ads would run, or at what cost. The campaign also announced it had banked $2 million for the final push to Election Day.