GOP governors ready fall ad blitz in 5 battleground states
The Republican Governors Association’s $31.4 million media buy is the first salvo of an expensive TV campaign.
The Republican Governors Association is rolling out its first round of major TV buys ahead of the 2022 midterms, investing $31.4 million in five states that feature top gubernatorial races.
The TV buy, shared first with POLITICO, covers Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin — four states where Democrats are defending first-term governors and one open seat, Arizona, where Republicans hope to hold on.
The RGA’s biggest ad reservation, totaling $10.2 million, is in Arizona, where an open and competitive race is on to replace GOP Gov. Doug Ducey, who is term-limited. The buy covers airtime in Phoenix and Tucson media markets from Aug. 3 through Election Day on Nov. 8. Republicans are fighting through a crowded primary scheduled for Aug. 2.
The rest of the RGA’s spending is booked in states where they’re on offense. In Nevada, the GOP governors group has reserved $8 million worth of airtime in Las Vegas and Reno, which will air from Sept. 7 to Nov. 8. Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak is on defense in the state President Joe Biden won by more than 2 percentage points in 2020. Sisolak’s most prominent GOP opponent is former Sen. Dean Heller, though Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo has raised the most money in the Republican primary race so far.
In Wisconsin, the RGA reserved $6.2 million in five media markets across the state from Sept. 7 through early November. The GOP primary there is in full swing, and former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch leads the field, according to recent public polling — though Republicans Kevin Nicholson and Tim Ramthun are also in the running. Whoever emerges from the primary will face Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
The RGA is spending $3.5 million apiece in Kansas and Michigan. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, an upset victor in 2018 now running for reelection in the red-leaning state, is up against Derek Schmidt, the Republican state attorney general. There is a crowded field of Republican contenders vying to take on Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who Biden considered as a vice presidential running mate in 2020.
Reserving TV airtime early gives committees the opportunity to pay better rates for their buys, and the RGA is expected to announce more spending throughout the midterm election cycle. The Democratic Governors Association has not yet announced its TV ad reservations.
“Democrat governors have failed to adequately address the problems at the front of every voter’s mind: record high costs of goods, parents being shut out of their child’s education, skyrocketing crime, and multiple crises abroad and at the border,” Dave Rexrode, the RGA’s executive director, said in a statement. “We look forward to taking advantage of the numerous pick-up opportunities we have to add more Republican governors to our ranks.”