Republican Barry Hinckley’s U.S. Senate campaign says it will begin running campaign commercials on television again Tuesday, after ceding the airwaves to incumbent Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse for the past two weeks.

Hinckley campaign manager Patrick Sweeney told WPRI.com the Republican challenger will go back on the air Tuesday and stay up throughout the last two weeks of the election. The campaign previously aired commercials from Aug. 29 to Oct. 9.

“I don’t want to go into strategy, but we are confident over the last two weeks that we will be able to close this 9-point gap,” Sweeney said, citing a recent Republican survey that showed a much closer race than independent polls from WPRI 12 and Brown University.

Whitehouse campaign manager Tony Simon expressed optimism. “We’ve been encouraged by the widespread support the campaign has received throughout this race,” he told WPRI.com. “As we enter the final stretch, our campaign continues to grow, and we continue to receive positive feedback on the senator’s message of standing up for Rhode Island families.”

The Republican remains at a huge financial disadvantage in the Senate race. Whitehouse’s campaign had $2.4 million on hand as of Sept. 30, while Hinckley’s had $452,783, their latest Federal Election Commission filings show. Hinckley has raised more than $1.5 million since last year to Whitehouse’s $3.1 million.

Whitehouse and Hinckley will meet for their first live televised debate tonight at 7 p.m. on WPRI 12.