Dan Seals expands ads to network TV

Democrat Dan Seals has become the first candidate for the 10th Congressional District seat to take his message to network television.

A Seals campaign commercial started airing this week on multiple network stations in the Chicago market, including WBBM Channel 2, WMAQ Channel 5, WLS Channel 7 and WFLD Channel 32, a campaign spokeswoman confirmed Friday.

A nearly identical version of the 30-second piece had already appeared on cable TV in the 10th District, which includes parts of Cook and Lake counties. It attacks Republican rival Robert Dold for his stance on Social Security and for support he's received from an anti-abortion group.

It also features Seals talking about values, the need for fiscal responsibility and the importance of getting people back to work.

When the cable version first aired last month, the Dold campaign demanded Seals pull it, labeling the piece misleading and inaccurate

Next week, the candidates must file campaign disclosure reports with the Federal Election Commission that will reveal how much money they collected from donors and spent in the last three months. Network television ad buys in the Chicago market are notoriously expensive, and a single ad can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to air.

Those financial reports - due by Oct. 15 - could shed light on where Seals and Dold have been focusing their advertising energies and budgets.

Seals, of Wilmette, is running for Congress for the third time. Dold, of Kenilworth, is a first-time candidate.

They're vying to replace Republican Mark Kirk of Highland Park, who is giving up the post to run for the U.S. Senate.