Dold turns to TV in 10th District race

With campaign ads already playing on Chicago-area radio stations, Republican congressional hopeful Robert Dold has turned to cable television to promote his bid for the 10th District seat.

A 30-second commercial called "Back to Work" started airing on local Comcast cable stations this week, the Dold campaign announced.

Like the series of three radio advertisements that began airing in July, the TV spot aims to introduce Dold - a business owner from Kenilworth making his first bid for elected office - to potential voters. In the ad, he generically criticizes lawmakers in Washington, D.C., and stresses the need to create jobs.

The piece does not mention Dold's Democratic opponent, business consultant and university lecturer Dan Seals.

In contrast to Dold's summertime media push, the Seals campaign hasn't run a single radio or TV commercial yet.

Seals doesn't have to work as hard to build name recognition with voters, however. He's run for Congress twice before, losing in 2006 and 2008 to Republican incumbent Mark Kirk.

Kirk is running for the U.S. Senate this year in one of the nation's most high-profile races, leaving the congressional seat open.

Seals spokeswoman Aviva Gibbs doesn't seem concerned about the Dold advertising strategy.

"Our campaign will be bringing Dan's message to voters on radio and TV in the near future," she said.

The Dold campaign's goal is to hit TV and radio early with positive messages, before the airwaves are "saturated" in September and October with political commercials, spokeswoman Kelly Klopp said.

"We want to be one of the first candidates people see and (to send) a positive message about the change needed in Washington," she said.

Klopp declined to say which cable channels are broadcasting the ad but said it will play on the Comcast systems "that cover most of the communities in our district."

Covering parts of Cook and Lake counties, the 10th District includes much of the North Shore and some Northwest suburbs.

The Dold spots that have aired so far are aimed at independent voters, an important demographic in the 10th District. Although voters in the district regularly supported Democratic presidential hopefuls, they've sent Kirk to Congress five times.