PAC advertising extra aggressive in fight for KS legislative seats

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Kansas democrats are aiming to negate the veto-proof majority Republicans hold this election cycle and political action Committees (PACs) are pulling all the stops to sway voters.

Political Analyst, Bob Beatty, said there's more PACs involved in Kansas state legislative races than he's seen in 25 years.

"We have this handful of races that are being targeted by both sides," Beatty said, "that will decide whether the Republicans keep that supermajority."

Beatty said the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently ruled political speech is expansive. For political ads, that means there aren't many restrictions. PACs tend to take advantage of that.

"In terms of what can be said in a political TV ad," Beatty said, "pretty much anything goes. PACs feel free to attack, attack, attack."

That's not to say voters should ignore the ads. Beatty said they're often a good starting point for digging deeper and engaging directly with the candidates.

"Any sort of campaigning from candidates or the PACs, take it as a valuable resource," Beatty said. "Don't take it as the end all, don't believe every TV ad you see. But, in a lot of these races the candidates are going door-to-door, or they're available at forums."

The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 5.

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