Elections

Americans For Prosperity Plans Massive Ad Buy As Dems Retreat From Key Senate Race

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Phillip Stucky Political Reporter
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Koch-backed Americans For Prosperity announced a new ad campaign in the hotly contested Ohio Senate race Friday in a Daily Caller News Foundation exclusive.

Republican Sen. Rob Portman is successfully fending off attacks from former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, prompting many Democratic groups to cancel ad buys in the state, but AFP leadership wants to ensure that Republicans maintain control of the Senate in November.

 

AFP announced it is investing well over $100,000 in online ads statewide. The ad will feature in online ads across multiple platforms in the state. Above and beyond the online ad buy, AFP has been very active at the grassroots level in the state. “Ohio’s grassroots team has nearly two hundred volunteers operating out of six field offices across the state. Our activists have shown outstanding dedication reminding fellow Ohioan’s of Ted Strickland’s record as they have contacted over 830,000 voters by phone and over 115,000 voters by door since the beginning of July,” Ohio state director Micah Derry told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

The new ad focuses on Strickland’s jobs record while governor of the state of Ohio, claiming that Ohioans lost over 400,000 jobs.

“Jobs fleeing Ohio while Ted Strickland was governor was not just an inconvenient coincidence that can be chalked up to a global recession. In a time the nation was hurting, Ted drove businesses out of our state with destructive tax increases, pouring gasoline onto the recession fire,” Derry said.

“Ohio was ranked 48th in the nation in job creation under Ted and Ohio’s economy was a loser amongst losers while our jobs went to neighboring states. We created this ad to help Ohioans recall Ted’s record.”

Strickland’s record includes several major job losses; DHL shipping company announced in 2008 they would lay off 4,500 workers in Ohio, the U.S. Playing Card Company moved its manufacturing facility to Kentucky, and AxioBionics moved its headquarters from Ohio to Michigan due to a more “patient-friendly” climate in Michigan.

Strickland trails Portman in the polls, the current Real Clear Average in the race gives Portman a solid 13.5 percent lead, earning 48.6 percent to Strickland’s 35.1 percent. Republican nominee Donald Trump also leads Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in statewide polling, earning 48 percent in last Tuesday’s Bloomberg poll.

The Cleveland, Ohio Black Lives Matter group formally endorsed Republican Rob Portman in the race over Strickland, citing Strickland’s poor record on prison reform.

Neither the Strickland nor the Portman campaign immediately returned a request for comment.

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