Democrats are blitzing on abortion
Democrats are outspending Republicans on Facebook ads in the lead-up to the 2022 elections. Heavy on women’s reproductive rights.
Democrats are pouring millions into Facebook ads about reproductive rights leading up to this year’s midterms, according to new data, while Republicans are focused on the economy and Donald Trump.
Why it matters: Abortion rights have proven to be a hot-button issue for Democrats down-ballot, helping the party rally voters amid attacks about inflation and the economy.
Driving the news: Democrats have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Facebook ads about abortion in the past three months, according to an analysis by Axios using data from Bully Pulpit Interactive.
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- The data measures ad spending from the three major Democratic committees (DNC, DSCC, DCCC) compared to the three major Republicans committees (RNC, NRSC, NRCC).
- Democrats began spending heavily on reproductive rights messaging with a blitz in late June following the Supreme Court’s vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. The data shows a steady increase in spend leading up to the election.
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Republicans have spent their online budgets on the economy.
Neither team has focused on Joe Biden. This being Jim VandeHei’s and Mike Allen’s site, Axios spins this as Democrats “distancing” themselves from Biden on Facebook rather than attacking Republicans’ weak point and reminding women, especially suburban women, which party has their freedoms foremost in mind.
“Democrats have out-aired their Republican counterparts on broadcast television across nine of the top 10 most of the most competitive Senate races, thanks to an unprecedented level of outside spend from super PACS and outside groups, according to the Wesleyan Media Project,” the report continues.
Hard to know whether that means much. Broadcast TV ads seem to benefit TV stations and ad buyers (who take a cut) more than candidates.
Democrats are finally upping their home-stretch spending in North Carolina where polls suggest Cheri Beasley remains in striking distance of Republican Ted Budd. But the race has drawn less national attention than Pennsylvania or Ohio:
Recent polling has shown a close race, but Democrats have struggled to win North Carolina Senate races in recent election cycles. Trump won the state by 1 percentage point in 2020 as GOP Sen. Thom Tillis won re-election by 2 points, defeating Democrat Cal Cunningham, whose campaign was upended by allegations of an extramarital affair.
The Cook Political Report rates the North Carolina Senate race Lean Republican.
The low-key Judge Beasley has spent her career (and won statewide office) presenting herself as a staid jurist. Running in a partisan political environment requires more spring in her step than she’s shown through the campaign. The level of enthusiam from voters here is not what it needs to be for a Democrat atop the ticket in an off-year election. Beasley will need more than TV ad spending. She may need to throw a bomb to propel her campaign across the goal line.
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