AdClarity, a leading media intelligence platform, released data on the mayoral race ad activity in the last 3 months (through mid-Sep.). According to the agency, both candidates running for mayor of New York City have shown very little activity with display ad campaigns in traditional sites (excluding social media). Though both Mr. de Blasio and Mr. Lhota show a relatively lean display ad campaigning activity, it is Joe Lhota that surpassed his opponent in the amount of ads and publications in which the ads were running, the media groups revealed on Tuesday.

While Bill De Blasio campaigned within his ‘home base’ audience such as in New York Magazine (www.nymag.com), Joe Lhota led a strategy that’s based on his best chance option to win these elections. According to the report, 59% of ads for Joe Lhota in the last 3 months were placed in “a Jewish Orthodox site, called Yeshiva World News, accounting for 5% of the site’s entire ad activity in this period.” This push is followed by 11% in The Epoch Times.

Longtime political consultant and Senior VP at Schnur Associates, Joel Schnur, weighed in on the strategy.

“Joe Lhota is making a desperate attempt to garner as many votes as possible as he goes down to defeat in the upcoming General Election for mayor,” said Mr. Schnur in a statement. “One of his best chances, according to his handlers, is to pitch the Orthodox Jewish community to vote for him. The latest study of American Jewry-A Portrait of Jewish America-done by the Pew Research Center, indicates that 57% of Orthodox Jews are registered or lean Republican.”

“That coupled with the fears of ‘another Dinkins’ that is being whispered about because of frontrunner Bill De Blasio having served in his administration, Bill’s call for ending “Stop –and-Frisk” and other alleged “Liberal” tendencies have caused the Lhota campaign to put 59% of its Display Ad activity for the last 3 months into the ultra-Orthodox online media Yeshiva News,” he added. “It is either that and/or someone worked out a really sweet deal.”

“It won’t help that much because De Blasio has long-time established relationships with the Orthodox community having served as a councilman from the Boro Park section of Brooklyn and for just having “been there” all those years for anyone who needed him,” he further claims.

“It was enough for me to vote for him in the primary. It will be more than enough for him to coast to victory on November 5th.”

(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)