Senator compares herself to Attila the Hun in bizarre ad

A US senator has compared herself with one of history's most notorious killers in perhaps the most bizarre ad of the election.

Kelly Loeffler depicted herself as being "more conservative than Attila the Hun" in the 30-second commercial.

The ad features an actor depicting Attila the Hun barking out orders in an unintelligible grunt, to be translated by a scribe.

"Fight China, got it. Attack big government. Eliminate the liberal scribes. Uh oh," the scribe translates.

The ad ends with a narrator speaking over a shot of Kelly Loeffler and Donald Trump sitting together on what appears to be Air Force One.

"More conservative than Attila the Hun. Kelly Loeffler, 100 percent Trump voting record."

Attila the Hun was the leader of a nomadic army known for its murderous campaigns against the Roman Empire in the 400s.

Despite what the ad depicts, Attila had nothing to do with China, and his bloodthirst was mostly targeted at western Europe.

Senator Loeffler is in a close race in the state of Georgia after she was appointed to fill a vacant seat.

Under Georgia's arcane special election rules, every candidate in the race competes on the one ballot regardless of party affiliation. The top-two finishers then face each other in a run-off election.

Senator Loeffler is battling to make the top-two by running to the right of fellow Republican Doug Collins.

Senator Loeffler and Congressman Collins are caught in a three-way tie with Reverend Raph Warnock from the Democratic Party.

Senator Loeffler's bizarre ad appears designed to appeal to the most conservative elements of the Republican Party, but it will leave her in a tricky position in the run-off.

Despite its historical conservative lean, Georgia is considered a toss-up in the November election.

Kooky election ads are nothing new in America, with more than half a million political offices up for grabs.

But oddball ads are rarely a sign that a politician's electoral future is secure. They are done to make a splash and get noticed.

In Alaska, orthopaedic surgeon and independent candidate Al Gross is in a surprisingly close race for the US Senate.

But in the conservative state, the independent isn't drawing attention to his own partisan leanings.

Instead he's released an ad with a very twee jingle that doesn't reveal what he thinks about any policy.

"Well one day on the water, Dr Al Gross got to thinking, he'd like to leave his practice and run for US Senate," the jingle goes.

"He's killed a bear, caught lots of fish, not swayed by party politics. Independent health care pro. Keeping health care costs real low.

"Running for Senate, Dr Al Gross, Alaska's own bear doctor."

Bizarre as it is, killing a bear and catching fish is just about the most effective way of touting one's Alaska roots.

The bear-killing was an act of self-defence, Dr Gross said.

Billions of dollars are likely to be spent in this year's US election.

And with so much cash flying around, some candidates are finding themselves with more money than they know what to do with.

Nobody splashed more cash on an election bid than multi-multi-billionaire Michael Bloomberg during his quixotic presidential campaign.

During his months in the Democratic primary, most ad breaks on television featured commercials touting Mr Bloomberg's candidacy.

But for the generation who does not watch free-to-air television, Mr Bloomberg paid a bevy of Instagram influencers to advertise for him.

On Middle Class Fancy, a meme page with 2.1 million followers, Mr Bloomberg paid for an ad consisting of a screenshot of a fictional conversation with Mr Bloomberg and the page's creator.

The post got a lot of likes, but Instagram popularity does not equal votes.

Mr Bloomberg spent a billion dollars on his four-month campaign. He finished in fourth place. The primary winner, Joe Biden, ran his campaign on a shoestring budget, winning states he did not even advertise in.