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By Dionne Waugh

Delegate Thomas Bolvin didn’t spend any money on radio or television commercials for his re-election campaign last year. He didn’t buy any newspaper ads, either. The Republican lawmaker from Alexandria spent $112,479 from his campaign budget on direct mail.

Legislators overwhelmingly pump more campaign money into direct mail than into broadcast or print advertising combined.

Last year, members of the General Assembly spent $2.24 million on direct mail and graphic design, according to an analysis of data compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project. That represented 31 percent of all political expenditures legislators made in 2001.

In contrast, lawmakers spent about $403,000 on TV and radio advertising -- about 5.6 percent of all campaign spending. Newspaper ads attracted less than $120,000, about 1.7 percent of total expenditures.

It’s no surprise why legislators prefer direct mail.

"They can target it to actual voters in their district," said Robert D. Holsworth, director of the Center for Public Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University. "They can even target it by ZIP code into areas of the district where the voting patterns show that people support their party overwhelmingly.

"For this reason, they can bang more for their buck with direct mail."

Bolvin said that direct mail is the most cost-effective way to reach your audience.

"The bottom line is that it’s simple marketing: Use the most cost effective means to directly touch your audience with the message you want," he said. "TV, radio and newspaper ads can’t do this."

Bolvin said he communicates with his constituents through a variety of methods. Besides direct mail, he:

• Walks door to door.
• Holds town meetings.
• Mails out newsletters about pending legislation or newly enacted laws.
• Uses e-mail, letters and phone calls.
• Invites people to visit his office.

Buying newspaper space is conspicuously absent from that list.

Indeed, legislators last year spent twice as much money on signs and bumper stickers ($241,461) as they did on newspaper advertising ($119, 898), the computer analysis showed. They even spent more on phone service ($141,357) than on newspaper ads.

"In direct mail, they can be more pointed and adversarial than they can be with a newspaper ad," Holsworth said. "They can also use direct mail to mobilize their base in ways that newspaper adds cannot."

Bolvin said that newspaper ads are fine for general and widely appealing messages, but that he does not believe in their use.

"I don’t like newspaper ads because it is hard to reach a defined audience with a defined message," Bolvin said. "I like to reach a defined audience, my mailing list of voters, with a precise message.

"People read newspapers for various reasons, news, sports, comics, and may not even notice your ad. Direct mail is usually read by the voter, even if it is only for a few brief seconds before it is thrown in the trash."

But some lawmakers still believe in the power of the press.

Delegate Allen L. Louderback, R-Luray, spent $14,153, the most of any legislator, on newspaper advertising.

"Direct mail is the most targeted medium: a rifle shot. When doing broadly aimed advertising, radio and TV and newspapers are the most effective," said Louderback’s legislative assistant, Gary Frink.

Bolvin, an insurance agent, said he spent so much money on direct mail because his district is very competitive.

After two previous attempts, he won his House seat in 1999, defeating the General Assembly’s senior female member, Democrat Gladys Keating. Last year, the Democrats ran a strong candidate -- Mark D. Sickles, a member of the Fairfax County library board -- against Bolvin. Sickles spent more money, but Bolvin won, 51 percent to 49 percent.

"My district requires me to do a lot of direct mail in order to communicate with the voters," Bolvin said. "I am a Republican that represents a district that is more Democrat than Republican. Thus, it requires more money to compete in this type of environment. The same would be true of a Democrat running in a Republican area."

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