John Rizzo rolls the dice on big TV buy

John Rizzo, the veteran Missouri state representative from northeast Kansas City, just announced a major TV ad buy in support of his race for the 11th District state Senate seat in the Independence area.

That’s somewhat unusual because candidates for state legislative seats rarely have enough money to go up on TV.

Another issue: TV buys are notoriously inefficient because the ad shows up on TV sets in a multitude of households outside the legislative district.

Rizzo, who’s running in a crowded Democratic primary, is undeterred. On Friday, he announced a $158,400 ad purchase, which he called “his first television ad buy” for the Aug. 2 primary.

The television spot “Family” will air beginning July 5 and will run on cable for four weeks and on broadcast TV for three weeks, Rizzo said.

The spot features Rizzo as narrator in various scenes with his wife and daughter.

As of April 15, Rizzo had $123,650 in the bank. He presumably raised more during the year’s second quarter, but clearly is banking on the TV spot to carry him home. Legislative candidates typically rely heavily on mailed fliers, radio spots and campaign workers to drive the vote.

Second-quarter fundraising records won’t be available until mid-July.