Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger is now appearing solo on the airwaves and cable in his first-ever campaign ads.
The $104,000 ad buy helped drain about half of the $200,000-plus he’s raised since embarking last fall on his quest to defend his interim appointment as county mayor. The ads will “be running up until election day in three weeks,” Coppinger said Tuesday.
Though the ads appeared Monday on the four local television affiliates and cable, the expenditure appeared in disclosures filed to the Hamilton County Election Commission by Tuesday’s deadline. Coppinger, a Republican, and Chattanooga mayor hopeful Andy Berke raked in the most cash this quarter — Coppinger with $95,642 and Berke with $272,050, according to the forms.
Berke, a Democrat who now represents Tennessee’s Senate District 10, won’t face opposition for mayor until next March’s city elections.
One Coppinger opponent, independent Richard Ford, also disclosed his tally Tuesday. Though Ford raised no money in the second quarter, his early commitment was to limit his fundraising if not avoid it altogether.