Koch-backed group knocks Tester, Casey with new ad buy bashing Bidenomics

Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the conservative political advocacy group linked to Charles Koch, is launching a seven-figure ad buy seeking to tie Democratic Sens. Jon Tester (Mont.) and Bob Casey (Pa.) to the Biden-Harris administration’s economic policies. 

A handful of ads set to go live in Montana and Pennsylvania will hammer the vulnerable incumbent senators over “Bidenomics,” featuring testimonials from voters who say they’re suffering under the policies.

“Bidenomics might bear the President’s name but make no mistake that he is far from the only one to blame for its policy failures and the inflation crisis that it has wrought,” Akash Chougule, AFP’s vice president of government affairs, said in a statement, pointing to congressional Democrats and Vice President Harris, the likely Democratic nominee. 

AFP launched a campaign attacking President Biden’s economic policy earlier this year, but the new ads hone in on two vulnerable incumbents whose races will be key to control of the Senate this fall. 

In one video, a Montana small business owner says Biden policies are “making it more difficult to make ends meet” and slams Tester, a rare Senate Democrat running for reelection in a state that former President Trump easily won in 2020.  

“Jon Tester voted for this and now Americans are struggling as a result,” the 30-second ad says. 

Tester, who has avoided the “Bidenomics” framing in the past, is up against Trump-backed Republican Tim Sheehy. Polling averages from Decision Desk HQ/The Hill show the Democrat down 4 points. 

A Pennsylvania-focused clip closes with a call to “tell President Biden and Senator Casey we’ve had enough of Bidenomics.” 

Casey is up against Republican David McCormick, who has repeatedly knocked his rival over Bidenomics in the Keystone State. Polling averages show the incumbent enjoying an 8-point lead. 

The digital ad rollout is kicking off in Pennsylvania this week and Montana next week.

Before his historic exit from the 2024 race, Biden struggled to reach voters with his message about an improving economy. He touted “Bidenomics” along the campaign trail, though some observers criticized the effort to link his name to his economic agenda in the face of voter frustration.

Harris is now the expected Democratic presidential nominee, and the ticket shake-up has given the party a jolt of enthusiasm with fewer than 100 days until the election. But it’s also left the vice president to grapple with Biden’s poor approval on his handling of inflation.

A new ad from the Trump campaign aims to paint Harris as the face of “Bidenomics.”

What’s more, Senate Democrats are facing new Republican attacks over not just the administration’s record, but Harris’s.