From the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

Topinka was outspent in TV ad race
By Kevin McDermott
POST-DISPATCH SPRINGFIELD BUREAU
11/10/2006

SPRINGFIELD, ILL. — Gov. Rod Blagojevich spent more than $18 million
on about 22,000 television spots to secure Tuesday's re-election
victory, swamping his Republican challenger's TV dollars almost 4-to-1
and prompting renewed calls for fundraising limits in Illinois, a
market analysis indicates.

Blagojevich, a Democrat, easily beat Republican state Treasurer Judy
Baar Topinka to secure a second term Tuesday, following a long,
high-priced television blitz that redefined her as an extremist on
guns and other issues, and linked her to disgraced former Gov. George
Ryan. Critics have complained the ad campaign — anchored by the
now-familiar refrain "What's she thinking?" — was among the most
negative and misleading in memory.

It was also among the most expensive, according to figures gathered by
an advertising analysis firm for the Post-Dispatch.

The firm, TSNMI/Campaign Media Analysis Group of Arlington, Va.,
calculates that between the March primaries and Tuesday's election,
Blagojevich bought 22,109 television spots in markets throughout
Illinois, as well as St. Louis and Paducah, Ky., at an estimated cost
of $18,148,050.

Topinka, with a far smaller war chest than Blagojevich's, started her
television campaign later, ultimately airing 4,638 spots, with an
estimated cost of $4,636,068.

That brings the total television spending by both candidates to about
$22.8 million.

In an unusually aggressive strategy for an incumbent who consistently
led in the polls, many of Blagojevich's ads directly attacked Topinka
rather than talking about his own record.

"Clearly, (Blagojevich) didn't want to leave anything to chance," said
Evan Tracey, an official for the Virginia media analysis company.
Although Blagojevich's ad campaign spending isn't a record, "it's
obviously a significant amount of money," Tracey said.

Particularly devastating to Topinka, many believe, were the ads
linking her to Ryan. Topinka and Ryan both were elected statewide
Republican officials in the 1990s, providing plenty of old footage of
Topinka praising his performance as governor and even dancing a polka
with him at a political event.

Ryan was convicted earlier this year on federal corruption charges.
Though Topinka wasn't involved in the crimes, Blagojevich's labeling
of her as "George Ryan's treasurer" apparently struck a chord with
voters. By the end of the campaign, polls were giving the formerly
popular three-term treasurer "negative" ratings approaching 60
percent.

"Money had a significant impact. We expected to be outspent and we
were," Illinois Republican Chairman Andy McKenna said this week. "I
think it's appropriate to raise a lot of questions about how the
governor was able to raise that kind of money."

An ongoing federal probe into the administration's fundraising
practices landed a recent indictment against a top Blagojevich friend
and fundraiser, on charges he attempted to extort campaign donations
from state contractors. Topinka attempted to turn the tide with a
series of late television commercials focusing on the federal probe —
including one in which Blagojevich's face is displayed next to Ryan's.

Blagojevich spokeswoman Sheila Nix pointed to those ads in disputing
criticism that Blagojevich's ad campaign was overly negative.
"Virtually every single one of their ads was negative," she said. "At
least half our ads were purely positive."

In Illinois, there are no limits on campaign contributions from any
source. The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform this week renewed
an earlier call for Blagojevich to "lead by example" and put a
self-imposed moratorium on his own fundraising, as a symbolic start to
further discussion about reining in runaway political spending.

"This was $22 million worth of 30-second spots," said the group's
director, Cynthia Canary. She said that, even as the candidates were
buying TV time to tout their messages, they couldn't agree to a single
formal television debate. "We heard of lot of 'What's she thinking?'
but we heard very, very little about the real issues."

Nix, Blagojevich's spokeswoman, said Blagojevich doesn't intend to
unilaterally stop fundraising.