Scott Powers
Democratic political committee Priorities USA announced Tuesday it is increasing its campaign against President Donald Trump by another $50 million in digital advertising in swing states with much of that going toward Florida.
The commitment means Priorities USA‘s digital advertising campaign budget rises to $150 million.
In addition Priorities USA is reserving $70 million in TV and digital advertising slots, including its first TV reservations in Florida.
The organization has been running digital ads in Florida since last July, and contends it has outspent Trump’s campaign during that time.
The newly reserved time slots begin March 24. And Priorities USA stated it has millions of dollars set aside to begin running TV ads prior to that date to counter any attempts by Trump and his allies to define the general election before the Democrats have a nominee.
The Democratic nomination battle begins Feb. 3 with the Iowa caucuses and includes Super Tuesday primaries on March 3 and the Florida primary on March 17.
In 2016, Priorities did not run its first TV ad until May.
Of the $70 million being reserved at this time, about $40 million will be on digital video and audio platforms like YouTube, Hulu and Pandora, and about $30 million will be TV.
About $12.6 million of the TV buy will be in Florida, along with a multimillion-dollar portion of the $40 million in digital ads.
“While most of our party is focused on choosing our nominee, Donald Trump will be spending unprecedented amounts of money in battleground states in an effort to define the election before our nominee has a chance to defend themselves. We will not let this go unanswered,” Guy Cecil, chairman of Priorities USA, stated in a news release. “Priorities USA has been outspending Trump online in key states for the last six months, and we will now be expanding our efforts to TV to make sure Florida voters are hearing about how Donald Trump isn’t working for them.”
