This has been a record-setting year in Oregon when it comes to election spending.
A measure that would require food manufacturers and retailers to label genetically engineered foods has eclipsed the previous mark for an Oregon initiative. And it's not the only big-bucks ballot measure this year.
So where is all that money going? The vast majority goes to television advertising.
Kari Chisholm, president of the Portland-based political consulting firm Mandate Media, said advertisers are developing a way to target political ads on a home-by-home level based on the demographic information of each individual cable subscriber.
It’s called micro-targeting but Chisholm says insiders named it something else.
"We call it ‘creepy awesome.’ From a personal privacy standpoint, it's pretty creepy,” he admitted. “From a marketing standpoint, as an advertiser, it's pretty awesome."
Of course, that strategy is used all the time on the Internet. But the online market is still just a fraction of overall political spending.
Chisholm said television is still the most cost-effective way to reach large numbers of people. Especially older people who are more likely to vote in a mid-term.
Copyright 2014 Northwest News Network
