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Advertisements have made up nearly half of all spending in this year’s Syracuse mayoral race, according to data acquired from the New York State Board of Elections.

Incumbent Mayor Ben Walsh, an independent, has spent $199,852.33 on advertisements for his campaign in 2021. Walsh’s advertising made up 45.4% of his total spending. 

Khalid Bey, Walsh’s Democratic opponent, spent $37,056.94 on advertising during 2021, less than one-fifth of Bey’s total campaign. His advertising budget only made up 35.4% of his total spending. 

Only 30.1% of Republican Janet Burman’s spending has gone toward advertising. She has spent only $3,075.66 on advertising, which is less than 2% of Walsh’s entire advertising spending. 

Of the nearly $200,000 Walsh has spent on advertisements, his campaign spent 39.4% on campaign mailers. The second largest avenue of advertising for Walsh was television advertisements, which made up 30.9% of his advertising expenditures.

In Bey’s advertising budget, his campaign has put 59.4% toward campaign mailers. A little over a quarter of Bey’s advertising budget has been for television ads.

Nearly $100,000 of Walsh’s spending has gone to The Balduzzi Group, which has worked on both advertising and consulting for the campaign. The group has previously worked with the American Civil Liberties Union, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Service Employees International Union.

The second largest expenditure for Walsh’s campaign was for the Mooney Marketing Group, which received nearly $62,000 from the Walsh campaign.

The two groups made up over a third of the campaign’s expenditures.

Sinclair Broadcasting received $2,000 of Burman’s advertising budget. The broadcasting network owns local television channels such as Fox 68, My 43, NBC 3, CBS 5 and CW 6, according to syracuse.com.

Bey’s campaign has emphasized the importance of grassroots fundraising. Bey’s campaign manager, Erik Eure, said in an interview with The Daily Orange that reaching the people of Syracuse has been at the heart of their campaigning strategies. 

Walsh has had a similar message, and he told WAER-FM on Thursday that he believes his “values and priorities do align with the majority of the people that (he) serve(s) in the city.”

While only 38.1% of Bey’s fundraising has come from donors listed in Syracuse, 54.7% of Walsh’s comes from within the city. 

Walsh’s campaign has raised 68% of their funds through individual donations while Bey’s campaign has raised 74.6% of their funds through individual donations. Only 35.6% of Burman’s funds have come from individuals. 

The race will conclude on election day — Tuesday, Nov. 2.

Published on October 28, 2021 at 1:07 am

Contact Kyle: kschouin@syr.edu | @Kyle_Chouinard