It was just before Hillary Rodham Clinton’s speech at the Democratic convention last night when watchers of CNN in Brooklyn and Queens were treated to a campaign commercial by State Senator Serphin R. Maltese, a Republican from Queens in a tough re-election battle this year.
And, that same commercial was broadcast again tonight before former President Bill Clinton’s speech at the convention.
Rarely do State Senate candidates broadcast their pitch for voters on television – let along during a widely watched event. But Mr. Maltese, who was elected in 1988, is one of the prime targets of Democrats hoping to regain control of the Senate. Indeed, of the handful of incumbent Republican state senators whom Democrats are singling out for defeat this year, Mr. Maltese is at the top of the list.
He is being challenged by City Councilman Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., a Democrat.
Mr. Maltese is a conservative Republican who has represented an overwhelming Democratic section of western Queens for nearly two decades. He has rarely faced a tough re-election battle. But he won his last election two years ago by about 900 votes – about 2 percentage points. And Mr. Addabbo, who has a large portion of the Senate district in his council district, has a well-known political name. His father, who died in 1986, served in Congress.
The ad, which ran on Time Warner Cable stations, portrayed Mr. Maltese as a champion of tax cuts during his years in Albany. By contrast, the ad said, Mr. Addabbo voted for an 18 percent increase in New York City property taxes several years ago.
It was not Mr. Maltese’s first campaign commercial this year. He has broadcast four others in recent months. But the placement of the ads – shortly before the high point of last night’s convention – was a sign that Mr. Maltese is once again after Democratic votes.
In fact, his ad made no mention of his party affiliation. But the 15th State Senate District has about 72,000 registered Democratic voters, compared with about 30,000 Republicans (There are about 6,000 others registered in the district). Winning Democrats and independent voters has been vital to Mr. Maltese’s political survival.
“We’re going to run an issue oriented campaign,” said John McLaughlin, a consultant to the Maltese campaign. “And whenever they hit the senator on various issues, we’re going to respond. We’re going to compare their records and let the voters decide.”
Mr. McLaughlin declined to say how much the Maltese campaign is spending on the television ads or how long they will be on the air.
Alexis Grenell, a spokeswoman for Mr. Addabbo’s campaign, said that the councilman had no plans to broadcast campaign commercials on television, saying that he preferred face-to-face contact with voters.
“This campaign is a grass-roots effort that is based on meeting people, going door to door, shaking hands and talking directly to voters about the issues,” Ms. Grenell said.
“An ad buy on CNN during the convention is incredibly expensive and it was clearly aimed at prime Democratic voters,” she added. “And all it will accomplish will be to remind voters that there is an election. The overwhelming majority of people who saw that will vote Democratic. The rest are people who live outside of the district and can’t vote for him.”
