Bob Hamilton blankets Kansas airwaves in ads for Senate campaign and plumbing company
Bob Hamilton sold his plumbing company three years before running for U.S. Senate, but he remains the name and face on much of the firm’s advertising.
Bob Hamilton Plumbing’s website features several photos of its namesake, including one on a coupon for HVAC services featuring Hamilton and a yellow lab. He still frequently appears in the company’s television ads, which use the slogan “Better Call Bob!”
His image is even painted on its fleet of trucks.
The company’s advertising could provide a boost to his candidacy in the crowded GOP primary to replace retiring Sen. Pat Roberts. Hamilton’s campaign hinges largely on his background as plumber and job creator.
But the distinctions between corporate and campaign advertising could also create headaches for Hamilton and the company he founded.
Craig Holman, a lobbyist for Public Citizen, a national ethics watchdog group, said the campaign finance law Congress passed in 2002 should prohibit the company from airing ads featuring Hamilton 30 days before the primary or 60 days prior to the general election.
“If they’re presenting the candidate to the constituency within 30 days of the primary, then that would be a corporate contribution to his campaign and that would be illegal,” Holman said in a phone call.
Holman noted that the prohibition only applies to broadcast television and radio ads. It would not require the company to change its name or remove Hamilton’s image from his truck or website, he said.
Hamilton sold the company in 2017 to Memphis-based American Residential Services, but the new owner retained his name in the Kansas City area. Hamilton no longer has a role in the day-to-day operations, according to his campaign.
But his family remains heavily involved.
Hunter Hamilton, the firm’s operations manager and the candidate’s son, confirmed that the plumbing company has received numerous calls about his father’s Senate candidacy.
The younger Hamilton said the company informs callers about the ownership change and emphasizes that his father is no longer involved. He said the company is still determining how it will proceed with regard to its TV advertising
“We’re figuring that all out. There’s nothing set in stone,” the younger Hamilton said. “I know the timeline rule of 30 days before the primary and 60 days before the general, so we still have time to figure that out.”
He confirmed that his father is still appearing in ads currently airing.
“We’re not in the window yet. We just know when it comes down to it… he can’t be on TV in July,” he said, referencing Kansas’ August 4 primary date.
FEC split on previous cases
Other businesses have had to deal with the same issue, said Brendan Fischer, the director of federal reform at the Washington-based Campaign Legal Center.
“Ads that include candidates name or feature the candidate very likely could fall within the definition of electioneering communication,” Fischer said.
The Federal Election Commission’s members haven’t always been in sync on their interpretation of the law.
Fischer pointed to a controversy during a 2019 North Carolina special election when the Federal Election Commission split over whether radio ads by Leigh Brown & Associates, a real estate firm, constituted electioneering on behalf of Republican candidate Leigh Brown, the company’s owner.
Brown’s company was forced to take down the ads when the FEC couldn’t agree on whether to exempt them. She unsuccessfully sued the FEC in federal court before placing fourth in the 10-person GOP primary.
“It really depends on the context of the ads that are run as the elections get closer,” Fischer said. “It can get tricky… But I think the big question would be whether the ads are perceived as referring to the candidate or referring to the business entity.”
Hamilton’s campaign didn’t respond to a question about the issue.
Another plumber-turned-politician had to stop appearing in ads for his company during the 2012 election.
Oklahoma Republican Markwayne Mullin halted the spots for his plumbing company after the FEC failed to reach consensus on whether the ads constituted a political communication. Mullin won and continues to serve in the U.S. House.
‘A good plumber’
Hamilton’s campaign ads trade heavily on his background as a plumber.
“President Trump has to deal with a lot of crap. What he needs is a good plumber,” Hamilton says in one commercial, which also features a photo of a Bob Hamilton Plumbing office while touting his background as a job creator.
Hamilton’s campaign has spent about $256,000 on television ads in a two-week span as he seeks to compete with more established candidates in the race for U.S. Senate, according to an analysis by Medium Buying, a firm which tracks campaign ad buys.
He has spent more on Kansas City television than any other candidate in the race and is second overall in TV spending behind Rep Roger Marshall.
Marshall, who represents western Kansas, has invested more than $331,000 cable TV ads since December. His spots emphasize his career as an OB-GYN — noting that he’s delivered 5,000 babies and featuring footage of him wearing medical gear and holding a newborn.
Hamilton didn’t join the Republican primary race until the end of March and only began airing ads on May 1, quickly narrowing the gap with Marshall and more than doubling the total for TV spending by former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the party’s 2018 nominee for governor.
The rapid spending shows the advantage that Hamilton’s deep pockets provide in a race where the Republican field has struggled to raise money. The candidate has loaned his campaign $2 million.
The ad spending has also highlighted the geographic divide in the race.
Marshall has spent heavily on Wichita market ($129,000 on broadcast TV ads) and nothing on Kansas City broadcast stations. Marshall has spent money on cable ads in both Kansas City and Wichita, steering $118,000 toward cable ads to run throughout the region.
Wichita stations air throughout western Kansas, blanketing Marshall’s core constituency in the “Big First,” his 63-county congressional district which covers the western half of the state.
Hamilton, on the other hand, has focused primarily on broadcast TV in the Kansas City area ($133,000) where he’s already well-known because of the plumbing ads. He’s spent another $32,000 on cable ads, mostly in the Kansas City market.
He’s the only Republican candidate currently airing ads on broadcast stations in the market, which tends to be more expensive but also provides a pathway to voters in Johnson County, the state’s most populous.
Hamilton’s campaign consultant, Jessica Flanagain, declined to discuss strategy when asked about the rate of spending and the focus on the Kansas City area.
Other candidates spent nearly as much on television as Marshall and Kobach.
Kobach has spent $95,000 on cable ads. His ads have focused on promoting the concept of a border wall and blaming China for the spread of COVID-19.
State Sen. Barbara Bollier, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, launched her first TV ad this week. Bollier, the candidate who has the most money in either party, has spent a combined $46,000 on broadcast and cable ads that promote her career as a physician.
This story was originally published May 13, 2020 at 4:46 PM.
