Fifth District Democratic congressional candidate Rob Hubler may be well behind U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, in fundraising, but the challenger expects big dividends from the strategic use of advertising in small and weekly newspapers, most notably with the insertion in the last few weeks of an 8-page “Congressional Voters Guide” in 75 papers in the territory he’s seeking to represent in Congress.

Hubler said in an interview Saturday that he developed the strategy after reading an Iowa Independent analysis about the power of community newspapers in shaping public opinion in rural Iowa.

“It gets away from the 30-second soundbites,” Hubler said. “It was me that was in there.”

Hubler’s campaign said it spent $16,000 on the community newspaper insert — which went in papers ranging from The Sioux City Journal and Carroll Daily Times Herald to weeklies.

Hubler said that unlike television commercials — which he is running, too — the newspapers have more shelf life.

“This is something that lies on people’s tables,” Hubler said.