Allen's campaign had scheduled commercials in the Richmond, Roanoke and Norfolk markets/ Allen scraps ads in Va. Senate race

George Allen’s Senate campaign has canceled its advertising reservation next week, keeping the Republican candidate in the dark on the airwaves as the Virginia race moves into the crucial final post-Labor Day phase.

A Democratic media buyer tells POLITICO Allen’s latest three-market television ad flight — set to begin Tuesday — was scrapped Friday morning.


The former senator’s campaign had been scheduled to launch commercials in the Richmond, Roanoke and Norfolk markets, according to the source.

Allen campaign adviser Dan Allen acknowledged the cancellation and called it part of the “constant adjustments being made to our ad schedule.”

“We know there’s going to be more viewership with the fall premieres and new programs starting and we want to make sure we’re maximizing our dollars,” Allen said. “So we’re going to be starting in the middle of the month.”

A less generous view — held by Democrats — is that the move is the consequence of Allen’s fundraising deficit to Democrat Tim Kaine.

Kaine’s campaign has been on the air since Aug. 21 and has purchased more than $4.5 million of spots slated to run through the fall.

Allen’s summer ads stopped running last week — which means he’ll be off the air for more than two weeks, until reemerging with a post-Sept. 11 buy.

Allen was the first candidate on the air after the June primary, with soft biographical spots featuring women lauding him as “good natured” and “a good husband, a good father.”

The early $750,000 buy was an overt attempt to close the gender gap and begin an early dialogue with independent women who have loose party affiliations.

Allen’s aides believe recent polling showing the candidate inching ahead among independents validates their early strategy.

Both sides agree the race remains a dead heat. But Kaine’s ability to stay on the air virtually uninterrupted from before the national party conventions to Election Day is an enviable advantage.