Down-ballot Democrats announced a multimillion-dollar ad campaign Monday that highlights the abortion policies of candidates in the battleground states of Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Protecting access to abortion has been the top issue for Democrats up and down the ballot, and the effort builds on the strategy the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee unveiled in March. At the time, the DLCC had committed $60 million to the campaign cycle.
The group is focusing on the state legislative bodies in Arizona and Pennsylvania, they said, because they’re likely to be narrowly won majorities in states that will also be crucial for the top of the ticket.
Arizona and Pennsylvania currently have split governments.
In Arizona, Republicans have a majority in both legislative chambers: 16-14 in the Senate and 31-29 in the House. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is a Democrat.
In Pennsylvania, Republicans hold control of the Senate, 28-22, while Democrats have a narrow 102-101 majority in the General Assembly. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is a Democrat.
“Control of Pennsylvania and Arizona’s legislatures will come down to just a handful of votes, and abortion could be the driving message that determines who wins in November,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee interim communications director Sam Paisley, in a statement announcing the nearly $2 million push. “Many voters know abortion is on the ballot this year, but they don’t always know where — the answer is in state legislatures.”
Pennsylvania
Control of the General Assembly has been a repeated point of contention.
During the 2022 general elections, Democrats technically won enough seats to gain a majority, but one Democrat, Summer Davis, also won a seat to Congress, while Democrat Austin Davis was elected lieutenant governor. A third Democrat, state Rep. Tony DeLuca, died in October but won reelection, meaning the majority was tenuous.
The February 2023 special elections, however, sealed the Democratic majority. Democrats have fought to retain narrow control in subsequent special elections in May and September 2023 and February, April and September 2024.
The DLCC’s ad buys will promote electing Nicole Ruscitto and Jim Wertz to the state Senate and reelecting Reps. Arvind Venkat, Brian Munroe, Jim Haddock and Ryan Bizzarro.
The negative ads target the views of Republican challengers Dan McPhillips, Micah Goring, Nathan Wolfe and McKayla Kathio and incumbent Sens. Dan Laughlin and Devlin Robinson.
The Robinson attack ads point to a July 8, 2022, vote in which he supported an omnibus that included language setting up a state initiative vote that would explicitly say there is no constitutional right to taxpayer-funded abortion or other abortion rights.
The vote mainly fell on party lines other than one Democrat voting for and two Republicans voting against it.
The vote was less than a month after the June 24, 2022, Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, according to the ads backing his challenger, Ruscitto.
The series also includes ads targeting Kathio, who is challenging Haddock, over her support of 2022 congressional candidate, Jim Bognet who was in favor of a national abortion ban. It also spotlights McPhillips, who is challenging Democrat Munroe.
Arizona
In Arizona, voters will also be faced with a direct decision on state abortion policy. Proposition 139 will ask Arizona voters whether they support establishing a fundamental right to abortion in the state constitution.
The DLCC announced an additional $223,000 investment in August to usurp Republican majority control of both legislative chambers.
The Arizona push includes English and Spanish ads that seek to tie Republicans to U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake and her opposition to abortion and to efforts by legislators to restrict abortion.
The ads target candidates Ari Daniel Bradshaw, Carine Werner, Jeff Weninger, Kylie Barber, Pamela Carter, Vince Leach and Robert Scantlebury as well as incumbents Cory McGarr, Julie Willoughby, Justin Wilmeth, Matt Gress, Michele Pena, Rachel Jones and Shawnna Bolick.
One ad spoofing the “Goosebumps” book series says Bradshaw, Wilmeth and Bolick would join a team supporting a 160-year-old abortion ban without rape and incest exceptions.
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