Campaign 2024: GOP Super PACs Funding Immigration Ads in Battleground States

FROM Immigration Hub:

"Read the latest edition of Hub Highlights below.

Last week, POLITICO reported that One Nation, a right-wing group supported by major GOP leaders and the top GOP super PAC, is investing $70 million more into ad campaigns focused on immigration and cost of living, targeting five Senate battleground states (Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Montana, Wisconsin and Nevada). The announcement comes off the heels of a new report by the Immigration Hub that found, in the first quarter of 2024, Republican candidates and right-wing groups had spent nearly $40 million on TV ads (not including online ads and other paid communications) attacking President Biden and Democrats on the supposed effects of their “open border” policies. 

Here’s a quick breakdown of Q1 spending:

• In quarter one of 2024, GOP candidates, PACs, and other groups spent over $38 million to fund 338 anti-immigrant TV ads across federal, state, and down-ballot races in six battleground states (AZ, MI, NC, OH, TX, WI). 
• The right-wing ads aired over 84,000 times in critical battleground states (AZ, FL, MI, NC, OH, TX, WI) and were viewed almost 2.3 billion times.
• The top buzzwords employed in the ads were “border” (342 mentions), “crime” (52 mentions), “crisis” (5 mentions), “drugs” (9 mentions), and “wall” (20 mentions). 
• The majority of immigration ads, across party lines, were placed in North Carolina (40%), Texas (37%), and Ohio (29%).

The outsized spending on anti-immigrant TV ads by the right is already on track to exceed 2022 records, when the right spent over $171 million on immigration TV ads. During the GOP presidential primary, more than $259 million were spent on ads – 21% of those ads mentioned immigration, making the issue the second most discussed in their advertising. AdImpact projects that over $10.2 billion will be spent on political advertising this cycle. In the days to come, we can expect record-breaking investments on these hyperbolic, misleading ads aimed at weaponizing the border and immigrants against Biden and Democrats."

KJ