Democratic group launches seven-figure ad campaign on voting rights bill

An advocacy group affiliated with the Democratic Party launched a national TV ad this week in support of a sweeping voting rights bill backed by congressional Democrats.

The seven-figure ad buy from the campaign arm of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee is designed to promote the For the People Act, Democrats’ signature voting rights bill.

The ad, which will run until June 21, focuses on the influence of corporate donations, dark money and gerrymandering on voting rights.

At one point in the ad, a narrator says “dark money is power” for “the corporate special interests and billionaires buying our elections.”

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said the House-passed elections bill will come up for a vote the week of June 21.

There is little hope for Republican support, and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) recently voiced his opposition to the legislation, to the frustration of his Democratic colleagues.

Many progressives are hoping that even if Republicans block the measure it will sway some Democratic holdouts to back a change in the Senate rules that require 60 votes to advance most legislation. Still, moderate Democrats like Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) have said they are against nixing the legislative filibuster.

The National Democratic Redistricting Committee, chaired by former Attorney General Eric Holder, is involved with the party’s efforts to build support for voting rights legislation as more GOP-led states move forward with bills that impose new restrictions on access to the ballot.

“We have a Republican Party that is intent on changing the election laws in our country to benefit them so that they maintain power,” Holder told MSNBC host Rachel Maddow in an interview Tuesday about the new ad.