Well the primary is over here in North Carolina, so now we get a chance to catch our breath before our swing state status overwhelms us with political ads as November draws closer.  Or not.  Both presidential campaigns are already on the air here in North Carolina and outside groups are up as well in both the presidential and gubernatorial races.

President Obama hits the airwaves in North Carolina (and eight other swing states) with a positive ad focusing on the economic crisis before he took office and his response.  It also manages to sneak in a reference to the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Of course, Mitt Romney countered and is now up with a spot of his own, his first of the general election.  Romney’s ad is positive as well and outlines his priorities from Day One in the Oval Office.

The Super PAC Crossroads GPS is also up with an ad here too, but this one goes on the attack against Obama, arguing that the President has not lived up to his promises.  The first Obama quote used in the ad is actually pulled from a speech he gave in Raleigh in 2008.

Finally, the Republican Governors Association is already up with an ad attacking Walter Dalton and calling him “Perdue’s right-hand man.”

And according to the News & Observer, we can expect a response very soon from the Democratic Governors Association.

All of this and it’s only May.  If you don’t like campaign advertising, you might not want to turn your TV on come October.

Election Day is only four days away and it seems most candidates are on the air making their final case to the voters of North Carolina.  Early voting has been brisk, but after tomorrow, when early voting ends, it will all come down to Tuesday.

Recent polls show Walter Dalton taking the lead in the Democratic primary for governor, and both he and his main opponent, Bob Etheridge, are up with new ads.

From Dalton’s campaign, continuing to stress his slogan “great jobs grow from great schools,” comes this ad:

And Etheridge is up with another ad too, again focusing on his experience as a former Superintendent of Public Instruction and also on his work with President Obama:

The Lt. Governor primaries are getting much less attention it seems, but candidates from both parties are up with ads.  On the Republican side we’ve already taken a look at ads from Dale Folwell and Tony Gurley, and this week we have an ad from Dan Forest:

Forest stresses his conservative and business credentials to appeal to Republican primary voters.

Finally, Eric Mansfield is up with an ad in the Democratic primary for Lt. Governor:

In the ad, Mansfield claims “our government in Raleigh is broken” and he is the best qualified to change things.

There are still a lot of undecided voters out there who might only start paying attention this weekend, so it will be interesting to see if any new ads pop up or if the current ads are effective in swaying voters.

Last week we looked at ads from Walter Dalton and Tony Gurley, so this week we’re taking a look at ads from two of their challengers.

The first is from Bob Etheridge, candidate in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, and features Etheridge touting his record and experience.

The ad highlights Etheridge’s experience as a former Superintendent of Public Instruction, with no mention of his time in Congress or the NC General Assembly.  Like Dalton, Etheridge also stresses education and jobs in his ad, but also veers to attack the Republican legislature for slashing funding for schools.  In a Democratic primary, attacking Republicans in your ad could prove to be a sound strategy.

The next ad comes from Dale Folwell, Republican candidate for Lt. Governor.  Folwell is in a competitive primary and his ad focus on his achievements in the NC House of Representatives.

Folwell’s ad does a good job trumpeting his experience advocating for issues that could be important to Republican primary voters (“malpractice reform,” “family values legislation” and fighting “against taxation, regulation and illegal immigration”).

Also on the air in advance of the May 8 primary are ads from each side of the amendment question.

From supporters of the amendment:

And from opponents of the amendment:

Early voting is underway across North Carolina and the primary is right around the corner, but the airwaves are still relatively quiet in some of the top tier races.  Pat McCrory doesn’t have much to worry about in his primary, so it’s no surprise that he’s not spending money on TV advertising right now.  That said, McCrory has put up a web video this week urging folks to vote early.

Interestingly, the video also encourages voters to show their ID at the polls, which of course they are not required to do.  McCrory is a strong supporter of photo ID legislation, and most polls show the general public supports it as well, so perhaps this is an indication he may try to make it a campaign issue this fall.

Running in the race to challenge McCrory, the presumptive GOP nominee, is Democrat Walter Dalton.  Lt. Governor Dalton is the first candidate up with a major ad buy with this spot:

The Dalton ad does a pretty clever job of getting his name out there to a largely undecided Democratic electorate.  It also hits on the two major campaign themes in the Democratic primary, jobs and education.  It will be interesting to see what, if any, advantage Dalton will have over his opponents as May 8 gets closer.

Finally, Tony Gurley, Republican candidate for Lt. Governor, put up this ad recently:

When you’re dealing with low name ID in a statewide election, using your name a lot in an ad is a pretty good tactic to increase that recognition with voters.  The ad says his name at least six times and it’s written on screen in some form in every shot.  It also hits on two major issues for the Republican party, photo ID and the same-sex marriage amendment.  For Republican voters who don’t know Tony Gurley, the ad probably serves as a pretty good introduction.

With North Carolina’s primary less than 60 days away, candidates across the state are starting to take to the airwaves in contested primaries.  The Republican primaries in the 9th and 13th Congressional Districts are two of the more prominent races being fought on May 8.

The 9th district in the Charlotte area has more than 10 Republicans running for the nomination, and Robert Pittenger already has this ad up:

In the Raleigh area, the 13th district is seeing its fair share of fighting between Paul Coble and George Holding in the Republican primary.  Paul Coble’s first TV ad takes aim at the rising deficit and spending in Washington:

And proving that congressional primaries are not immune from Super PAC spending, American Foundations Committee, supporting George Holding, is up with this ad:

Holding is also airing a radio spot to counteract claims made by Coble against his candidacy.

The NC General Assembly races are starting to see some ads go up as well.  NC Rep. Jim Crawford (D), who was double-bunked with Rep. Winkie Wilkins (D) during redistricting, is up with an ad highlighting his willingness to “stand alone” on important issues.  Crawford was one of five Democrats who broke party ranks to help pass the Republican-crafted budget in 2011.  Here’s the ad:

As May 8 draws closer, expect to see a lot more ads in these contested primaries.  Of course, this will all just be a warmup to late October when most of North Carolina won’t be able to turn the TV on without seeing political ads.