It's not even Labor Day, but the campaign between incumbent Republican Rep. Thelma Drake and Democratic challenger Phil Kellam has been hot all summer - not that you would know it by the coverage in the formerly Mainstream Media, of course. This is our fourth post on the race.
The candidates are already on the airwaves of local TV with near-saturation coverage. It was enough to disrupt CQ Politics senior reporter Greg Giroux's vacation:
This Tidewater city provides about two-thirds of the population of Virginia's 2nd District, which also includes parts of Norfolk and Hampton and the "Va." part of the Delmarva Peninsula. The conservative- and military-oriented district has a Republican lean -- President Bush took 58 percent here in his 2004 re-election contest -- but one that Democrats insist they can overcome.
That is why freshman Republican Rep. Thelma Drake and Democrat Phil Kellam, the elected revenue commissioner of Virginia Beach, already are staging a pitched battle for the 2nd District seat. And that's also why television ads seeking to influence voters in the race practically saturated the airwaves during local television newscasts Tuesday -- with 10 weeks still to go before Election Day.Three television ads, two lauding Drake and one favoring Kellam, aired at least seven times on WVEC, the local ABC affiliate, between 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Read the whole story at link above.
It's a typically Republican district, but Drake is a one-term incumbent and Kellam has financial backing. It's been a dog fight all along, and promises to get rougher when we actually get close to the election.
Our most recent previous coverage is here .
Permalink | Send To A Friend | Linking Blogs | Digg this!
Filed under:
Campaign Ads, Congressional Races, Virginia
