RNC rolls out ad campaign hitting Democrats over election reform

The Republican National Committee (RNC) will launch a six-figure ad blitz early next week hammering Democrats’ election reform legislation that the GOP is calling a “power grab.”

The RNC is rolling out the ads in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and New Hampshire, all of which have Democratic-held Senate seats that are on the ballot in 2022. The ads will run on Facebook, Google and local and national news sites, and the RNC said the effort will be complemented by “every tool in its arsenal,” including appearances by local surrogates on radio and television.

The ad campaign will focus its efforts on fighting the For the People Act, known as H.R. 1. The bill passed the House in early March along party lines but faces an uphill climb in a 50-50 Senate in which it will need to get at least 60 votes.

Among other things, the legislation would require states to offer mail-in ballots, establish electronic voter registration to enable same-day voting, expand early voting, ease voter identification laws and push for the establishment of an independent commission to redraw congressional districts every 10 years.

Democrats have said the bill is needed to expand access to the ballot, while Republicans have panned the effort as a government takeover of the election process to help get blue voters to the polls.

One ad targeting Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly (Ariz.), Raphael Warnock (Ga.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.) and Maggie Hassan (N.H.) says that “Radical Democrats are trying to take over our elections,” while another reads “Democrats want to spend your tax dollars to fund liberal candidates’ elections. We can’t let this happen!”

“Democrats are attempting an egregious power grab through H.R. 1 that will fundamentally alter our entire election system and dismantle the integrity of the vote, but we will not let them get away with it. The RNC is using every tool available to counter Democrats’ blatant hijacking of our election system that would give unfettered power to unelected D.C. bureaucrats and trample on free speech,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. 

The digital ad blitz was first reported by Fox News. 

The election reform bill has emerged as a lightning rod for Republicans in Washington. Heritage Action for America, the advocacy wing of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, also rolled out a $10 million push over what it says is “federal overreach” in the nation’s elections.

The GOP has been animated around any issue related to election procedures or security since former President Trump asserted without evidence that the presidential election in 2020 was “stolen” from him.