Largest Senate GOP group to run first ads for 2020

The largest outside group supporting Republican Senate candidates will launch its first sustained advertising buy next week in three battleground states.

One Nation, the 501(c)(4) half of the Senate Leadership Fund, will begin spending just over $1.3 million on TV advertisements in Arizona, Iowa and North Carolina, the group told The Hill.

{mosads}The ads are part of a push against “Medicare for All,” a key health care proposal backed by several top-tier Democratic candidates running for their party’s presidential nomination.

One spot highlights the costs of a Medicare program that covers every American, and another warns of long waiting periods to get medical procedures.

“We’re going to keep informing Americans of the huge threat posed to them by Medicare for All — both much higher costs and much lower quality of care,” said Steven Law, One Nation’s president and a former chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

One Nation will debut one of the spots Monday, as part of a $4 million wave of national advertisements.

The three states that will see the first round of advertisements are home to three potentially vulnerable senators up for reelection in 2020.

In Arizona, Sen. Martha McSally (R) faces a well-funded challenge from retired astronaut Mark Kelly (D). North Carolina Democrats are lining up behind former state Sen. Cal Cunningham (D) in his bid to unseat first-term Sen. Thom Tillis (R). And in Iowa, Sen. Joni Ernst (R) will face the winner of a competitive Democratic primary.

The advertisements will run over three weeks beginning Aug. 5. The group bought about 1,000 gross ratings points, which will essentially saturate the airwaves, in Phoenix; Des Moines, Iowa; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Raleigh, N.C.; and Charlotte, N.C., media markets, according to one source watching the advertising market.