Last-minute TV ad buys raise the stakes in Massachusetts Senate race

Just how big are the stakes in the Massachusetts Senate race? Independent and party groups were set to spend nearly $5 million on television ads in the final weeks leading up to Tuesday's special election between state Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) and state Sen. Scott Brown (R).

According to ad-buy information provided to the Fix, there are 13 -- yes, 13 -- groups paying for ads in the race's final days, with Democratic groups outspending Republican-aligned by more than $1 million. Coakley's ad advantage comes from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is set to spend $1.4 million on ads in the final week of the race -- a staggering sum given the overwhelming Democratic tilt of the Bay State, and yet another sign of how worried the party is. (The National Republican Senatorial Committee is not running ads in the state.) The other major Democratic groups in the mix are labor-affiliated. The Service Employees International Union is up with $549,000 in ads, and Citizens for Strength and Security, which is funded by unions, is spending $425,000 on ads.

On the Republican side, there are more groups airing television commercials -- including the Chamber of Commerce and a group affiliated with the conservative Tea Party movement -- but they are spending just about $1.6 million. Add those numbers to the $2.2 million Brown is spending on television and the $1.9 million by Coakley, and the total in the contest's final days is near $10 million.