VILLALOBOS FOES SATURATE AIRWAVES;
ATTACK ADS IN A FLORIDA STATE SENATE RACE FLOODED THE AIRWAVES AS GROUPS LOOKING TO UNSEAT THE INCUMBENT HAVE POURED MORE THAN $1 MILLION INTO TV ADVERTISING.
The Miami Herald - BYLINE: BREANNE GILPATRICK [9/1/2006]

"The third-party groups known for stuffing mailboxes with attack fliers in Florida's roughest state Senate race are now filling the television airwaves with more than $1 million in political advertising.

Groups looking to unseat Sen. Alex Villalobos in District 38 spent at least $1.1 million in TV advertising as of the end of August, according to Federal Communications Commission documents filed with eight area television stations. And like most attacks in the race between Villalobos and challenger Frank Bolaños, almost all of that money is coming from electioneering communication organizations, or ECOs, third-party groups known for ''get out the vote'' and voter information campaigns.

As of Thursday, the pro-Bolaños groups outspent pro-Villalobos groups by at least a 10-1 rate.

Separately, the Bolaños campaign has spent about $6,000, records show. The campaign has only one ad airing, a Spanish-language one focused on Gov. Jeb Bush's endorsement, said Michael Caputo, Bolaños' spokesman.

The Villalobos campaign has spent at least $67,000 on three different TV ads. Two focus on hometown Republican support for Villalobos, while the third discusses his support of the Jimmy Ryce Act designed to crack down on sexual predators.

ON THE AIR

Most of the ECO ads began hitting airwaves last weekend, more than a week before Tuesday's primary. The most recent ad, funded by school voucher proponents All Children Matter, features Lynette Estrada, the mother of a disabled son and teacher of disabled children, and criticizes Villalobos' vote on school vouchers. The group has spent at least $90,000 for Univisión airtime alone.

Another anti-Villalobos ad by Partnership for Florida's Future, affiliated with the Florida Chamber of Commerce, criticizes Villalobos for being too liberal, while another by Florida Mainstreet Merchants, run by the Florida Retail Federation, argues, ''We need Frank to protect the Republican reforms we fought so hard for.'' The ads are running in Spanish and English.

The two business-focused groups, both based in Tallahassee, have been the biggest spenders in the campaign. And agencies representing them have spent at least $880,000 on the anti-Villalobos ads -- more than the combined campaign budgets of Villalobos and Bolaños.

Although election law prohibits ECOs from advocating a specific vote for or against a candidate, Mark Wilson, chairman of Partnership for Florida's Future, said the group's ad is meant to show Villalobos no longer supports business interests the way he once did."

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