This year's U.S. Senate race in New Hampshire between Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas and Republican John E. Sununu pits two experienced candidates with proven records of winning tough campaigns.
But that either man could have ever prevailed in any election can feel surprising given the glut of negative ads that have been running for weeks.
Whether it's allegations that Pappas is "in the pocket of DC lobbyists," or that Sununu spent year "cashing in" on his political connections, New Hampshire voters are hearing plenty about why to distrust either man.
New Hampshire’s Senate race is one of a handful that could determine partisan control in Washington next year. That’s why outside dark money groups are plowing big money into it — some $50 million to date. All that cash is not simply clogging voters’ social media feeds and mailboxes. It’s also challenging the candidates to break through with their own messages.
Sununu says in an atmosphere where outside spending dominates, a simple message is probably required.
“You’ve got to work really hard to keep your message focused to break through to make sure people can appreciate you for who you are, what you have to offer, what kind of leader you will be,” Sununu said while campaigning in Bedford last week.
There’s a lot for both Sununu and Pappas to break through these days. But as this race has tightened, GOP dark money groups have opened the floodgates, spending big on ads attacking Pappas.
Earlier this month, a PAC aligned with President Trump — No Going Back PAC — reserved $10 million in New Hampshire advertising. The same group is also stuffing mailboxes with fliers claiming Pappas “sold out to big insurance” because he supported keeping premium supports for Obamacare.
Pappas says after four campaigns for Congress, he expects monied interests to swoop in from every direction — but that doesn't make it right.
“It is unacceptable, the way our campaign finance system works, and I’m the only candidate in this race that’s working to take on big money and change the way this system works,” Pappas said while campaigning in Meredith last week.
Pappas has sponsored legislation to require greater disclosure for outside campaign spending. The bill has failed to gain traction due to Republican opposition. In the meantime, spending on political ads — even on the most perishable kind — is only growing.
“We are sort of in a slop economy in the marketing that we are seeing,” said Rep. Joe Sweeney, a Republican state lawmaker who also works as a consultant at a local political advertising firm.
Sweeney added that the wave of money in this Senate race isn’t aiming for nuance: “We are competing for people’s attention and we are just trying to get three seconds of their time: three seconds to look at a mailer, three seconds to look at an ad or just skip it entirely. So all of the effort you are seeing is just trying to capture somebody’s three seconds of attention.”
But for many voters on the receiving end of this ad barrage, even three seconds is too much.
"It’s just all garbage — nobody is hearing anything of any substance,” said Mary Ann Spence of Meredith.
Spence says she recently returned home from a week's vacation to find more than a dozen political fliers lining her mailbox.
“I don’t even look at them anymore because I know there is nothing worthy of reading that’s going to help me decide who to vote for,” she said.
Which may be true. But as long as this pivotal U.S. Senate race is seen as competitive, the political mailers are going to keep arriving.
