Everytown, a major gun safety advocacy group, has launched a $2.1 million ad blitz in Pennsylvania targeting Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano and Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz ahead of November’s midterm elections.
The effort focuses on mobilizing voters and calling out candidates, including Mastriano and Oz, who the group says are “beholden to the gun lobby.”
In the ad, titled “Home,” the advocacy group hits Oz, arguing that the Senate candidate “will not keep us safe.”
“For too many women, home is the last place they feel safe. Because when an abuser’s armed, women are five times more likely to be killed,” a female narrator says.
“Mehmet Oz would make it easier for domestic abusers to get guns, even opposing background checks on all gun sales,” the narrator continues.
The ads will run on television and across digital platforms starting in the Philadelphia media market, according to Everytown.
“The overwhelming majority of Pennsylvania voters are looking for candidates who will stand up for public safety and fight for common-sense gun safety laws,” John Feinblatt, president of Everytown, said in a press release announcing the blitz.
“Everytown’s investment will ensure Pennsylvania voters know the truth: by standing in the way of gun violence prevention laws, extremists Mehmet Oz and Doug Mastriano are a threat to the safety of our families and communities.”
The move comes amid new polling showing that Oz, a former television personality and cardiothoracic surgeon, has closed the gap with his opponent, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D).
The campaign for Senate has gotten personal, with Oz calling into question Fetterman’s health following a stroke Fetterman suffered in May. Fetterman, for his part, has used social media to slam his opponent, painting him as a wealthy outsider from New Jersey disconnected from everyday Pennsylvanians.
Oz has previously touted his support for the Second Amendment and opposes gun restrictions like red-flag laws, according to his campaign website.
Recent polling has shown Mastriano behind his opponent, Josh Shapiro (D), in the race for the governor’s mansion. According to a Monmouth University poll released last month, half of Pennsylvania voters said that they would vote for Shapiro. The poll found that nearly half of voters in that same poll — 45 percent — said that they would definitely not vote for Mastriano.
The Republican candidate has taken some hard-line stances on hot-button issues such as abortion, following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. Mastriano has proposed a ban on the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy.