Santorum makes major campaign ad buy

Rick Santorum is increasing the pressure on Mitt Romney by making ad buys in five states.

The ads are set to air this week and Monday in states that vote at the end of the month and in the Super Tuesday contests on March 6.

The campaign is making the purchases in Arizona, which votes Feb. 28., and in Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee and Oklahhoma — all Super Tuesday states except for Arizona — according to Santorum senior campaign adviser John Brabender. The campaign did not disclose any more details about the ads, such as the cost or exact markets where they will air.

{mosads}A recent American Research Group poll found Santorum in second place in Arizona with 31 percent support, behind Romney (who has 38 percent) but ahead of Newt Gingrich (15 percent) and Ron Paul (11 percent). The former Pennsylvania senator led in the Quinnipiac poll of Ohio, 36 percent to Romney’s 29. Ohio is a crucial state in both the GOP primary and the general election.

On Wednesday, Santorum’s campaign released a new ad mocking Romney’s attacks at Santorum as futile mudslinging. It’s airing in Michigan.

A day earlier, Santorum released a lighthearted ad in Michigan arguing that the former Pennsylvania senator is the strongest candidate to beat President Obama. Santorum is hoping to win big in Michigan, the state Romney grew up in and won handily over Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) in the 2008 Republican presidential primary. 

Romney is also running ads in the state, emphasizing his roots there.

Santorum’s ad buy follows a major ad purchase by Restore Our Future, a pro-Romney super-PAC that ran successful campaigns against Gingrich in Iowa and Florida.

The super-PAC bought $1.5 million worth of ads in eight primary states, according to CBS News: Michigan, Arizona, Ohio, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Georgia.