Post-Dispatch: Koster spent $1.2 million on ads

Jo Mannies of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the winner for the Democratic nomination for attorney general, Chris Koster, spent $1.2 million for television advertising, more than any other candidate:

Koster spent at least $1.21 million over the last month to run 2,722 ad spots, most of them on TV stations in the state's three largest cities, according to TNSMI-Campaign Media Analysis Group, a nonpartisan firm monitoring campaign ad spending for the Post-Dispatch.

About a quarter of Koster's ad spending came in the final week. The ad getting the most airtime during the finals days of his campaign was a spot that targeted his two chief Democratic rivals: state Reps. Margaret Donnelly and Jeff Harris. Donnelly, of Richmond Heights, trailed Koster by less than 800 votes statewide in the final unofficial tally.


Donnelly spent at least $138,796 and Harris spent at least $220,487 on TV ads during the final week. Both candidates concentrated most of their ad buys in St. Louis and Kansas City.