WASHINGTON _ A deep-pocketed group co-founded by former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is planning a major ad blitz against GOP candidates running in North Carolina this year, arguing that they are unfit for office because they oppose increasing restrictions on access to firearms.
The effort from Everytown for Gun Safety, dubbed Gun Sense Majority: North Carolina, will involve at least $5 million in ad spending opposing Republicans up and down the ballot, ranging from President Donald Trump to state legislators. The investment represents a significant bet that voters in the state are still motivated by issues of gun violence, even amid a lethal pandemic and nationwide protests over racial injustice.
Advisers to the group say they're paying extra attention to North Carolina, which is not only a key presidential battleground state but is also hosting a marquee race between GOP Sen. Thom Tillis and Democrat Cal Cunningham that many operatives believe could decide which party controls the U.S. Senate.
"North Carolina could decide the presidency and the balance of the Senate, and it's why we're going to go all in with our most significant investment and effort ever," said Charlie Kelly, a senior adviser for Everytown for Gun Safety.
Everytown for Gun Safety was co-founded by Bloomberg as a political counterbalance to the National Rifle Association, the nation's most prominent gun rights group. The former mayor and multibillionaire _ who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination earlier this year _ continues to be a major source of its fundraising, though the group does draw donations from other contributors.
Everytown for Gun Safety has become more visible in recent election cycles, spending $30 million during the 2018 midterms, when Democrats took control of the U.S. House. Officials with the group say they plan to spend $60 million across the country this year.
In North Carolina, Kelly says the effort will pay special attention to voters in the Research Triangle and Mecklenburg County, though he stressed that he thought the issue of gun violence resonated across a broad geographic and demographic set of voters.
Kelly declined to name which specific policies the ads would mention, like expanding background checks on the sale of firearms, but said the broader issue helps turn out the party's base while persuading moderate voters to oppose the GOP.
"In our polling earlier this year, it was a persuasion issue, it mobilized voters, and it was a big litmus test for voters," Kelly said.
In addition to TV, digital and mail ads, the effort in North Carolina will also include volunteer outreach from affiliated groups Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action.
