Donald Trump and Gov. Josh Shapiro star in an intensifying Philly City Council race

Philadelphia voters will begin to see a television advertising war in the final three weeks before the Nov. 7 election, including in this year’s closely watched races for three City Council seats that are attracting an unusual amount of attention.

The latest sign of how competitive the races are came this week, when the progressive Working Families Party — a third party vying for two seats that are effectively reserved for non-Democrats — announced that it’s launching a $250,000 ad campaign that will tout an endorsement from Gov. Josh Shapiro and tie their opponents to former President Donald Trump.

The spend is significantly more than the campaigns spent four years ago, when one of its candidates, Kendra Brooks, became the first third-party candidate in modern history to win a seat on City Council, ousting a Republican from one of the seats the GOP had held for the better part of a century.

Brooks is up for reelection this year and running alongside Nicolas O’Rourke, an activist and pastor. There are seven open seats on Council that represent the city at-large, and nine candidates. Five are Democratic nominees who are all-but-certain to win seats. That means the Working Families Party is competing with a pair of Republican nominees for the two remaining seats.

Local elections in Philadelphia have not traditionally been competitive by the time the general election rolls around, given the Democratic party’s enormous advantage in the city. But the races this year, which could tilt the ideological leaning of the city’s legislative body, have proven otherwise.

» READ MORE: Your guide to the at-large City Council race

The Working Families Party’s advertising push, paid for by their campaigns that have already set third-party fundraising records, explains how voting in the at-large race works and attempts to tie their Republican opponents to the national party.

Republicans Jim Hasher and Drew Murray have each described themselves as moderates, and the Philly GOP has said it’s attempting to draw a distinction between local candidates and the polarized national political environment. But in one of the Working Families Party’s spots, O’Rourke says a vote for the Working Families Party can “stop Trump’s extreme agenda.”

Another ad features Shapiro, a Democrat who endorsed Brooks for reelection. In the commercial, Shapiro — generally considered a political moderate who does not align with Brooks on a number of issues — says he’s “proud to have her back.”

But the Working Families Party does not have a monopoly on the airwaves. Hasher, who is supported by a coalition of building trades unions, has spent about $100,000 on television advertising thus far, according to media-tracking firm Ad Impact.

Hasher’s campaign commercials are largely biographical in nature, describing him as “a community leader, a youth mentor, and a small-business owner.” A narrator says he will prioritize public safety, fighting the opioid crisis, and tax relief — and the ad does not mention that he is a Republican.

Murray, a civic leader who is a GOP nominee but has not received as much financial support from labor unions as Hasher, said he does not intend to advertise on television. He plans to advertise on billboards, and believes that his campaign dollars will be better spent on Election Day operations and canvassing.

“We need to get a lot of people out on the street on Election Day,” he said. “That’s where I’m focusing my efforts.”

Murray could be helped though by an independent expenditure group called the Coalition for Safety & Equitable Growth, which is airing a negative advertising campaign about the Working Families Party candidates.

The attack ads, which started running on Fox News this week, describe Brooks and O’Rourke as “radicals.” They highlight a recent vote Brooks made in favor of supervised drug consumption sites, as well as their past positions on reducing funding to the Police Department.

Several other outside groups could get involved in the final weeks of the campaign for the at-large Council seats. The Building Trades & Construction Council is expected to fund an Election Day operation to support Hasher and four Democrats, and an independent expenditure committee backed by the national Working Families Party is funding a canvassing and voter education program.

In addition, the competitive district Council race in Northeast Philadelphia is drawing television advertising, an especially rare occurrence for a general election race that can only be voted on by about 10% of the city’s residents. Both Republican Councilmember Brian O’Neill and Democratic challenger Gary Masino are running television commercials.

Masino has spent nearly $150,000 on the airwaves, while O’Neill has spent about $50,000, according to Ad Impact.