Oklahoma County DA candidates running TV ads to promote their campaigns
As the race for Oklahoma County district attorney heats up, frontrunner Kevin Calvey launched a new TV ad this week featuring his 13-year-old daughter.
"We need someone who will put away the bad guys, the drug dealers, child predators and the murderers,” Anastasia Calvey said in the 30-second ad. "Our future is on the line. Will you help him protect it?"
Calvey, now an Oklahoma County commissioner, is one of four Republicans seeking to take over after District Attorney David Prater retires in January.
Two Democrats are in the race. The primary election is June 28.
Calvey is already under contract to spend $210,000 on ads that started this week on the Fox News Channel and other cable outlets and all four Oklahoma City TV stations, his campaign said.
"We may buy more if needed," his campaign communications director, Andrew Speno, said.
Another Republican, Gayland Gieger, already has agreed to spend close to $240,000 to run ads on the four Oklahoma City stations, records show.
"We have a six-figure ad campaign upcoming on channels Oklahomans watch highlighting our 23 years of actual prosecution experience," Gieger's campaign manager, Evan Handy, said.
"We're confident Oklahoma County voters want a prosecutor, not a politician, as their district attorney."
Gieger is a longtime Oklahoma County assistant district attorney.
The major TV buys are indicative that the race may be more competitive than many believed.
Calvey, a former state legislator, has been ahead in polling.
He was awarded the Bronze Start for prosecuting "over 100 terrorists" in Iraq while in the U.S. Army.
“Our most recent polling shows Calvey ahead of all the other candidates combined," Speno said. "Our ongoing ground survey projects Calvey winning this primary race outright and not going to a runoff."
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Gieger's campaign manager, however, said "our internal polling" shows Calvey has not substantively "moved the race" in months even though he already has been advertising.
Calvey reported spending $51,092 on digital ads in the first three months of the year.
He loaned his campaign $125,000 last year, records show. The campaign paid him back in January, records show. He loaned his campaign $200,000 in March.
The first Republican in the race, defense attorney Robert Gray, said he hasn't decided yet if he will do any TV ads. The third Republican in the race, defense attorney Jacqui Ford, said her campaign is planning to do TV ads.
Democrat Mark Myles said he will run TV ads if he can raise the money. Myles, a defense attorney, ran in 2018 for attorney general .
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The other Democrat in the race is Vicki Behenna, a former federal prosecutor who helped convict Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh in 1997. Her campaign consultant would not disclose if she will turn to TV ads before the primary.
However, the consultant, Ward Curtin, said records at the four Oklahoma City television stations show Calvey is only spending $11,000 with them so far.
"It's one of the oldest tricks in the book when you have a campaign that is struggling and you need to show supporters you're doing something," Curtin said. "You buy a couple commercials and post the spot on Facebook to look like there's activity."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Some candidates for Oklahoma County DA push TV ads to help campaigns
