Politics

Biden Campaign Announces $280 Million Ad Buy In Mostly Red States

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Andrew Trunsky Political Reporter
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Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign announced a $280 million advertising blitz Wednesday in fifteen states three months before the election.

The ads will run on television and digital media platforms through Nov. 3. Senior aides on the former vice president’s campaign said the ad buy, which includes $220 million towards television and $60 towards online platforms, is the biggest in electoral history, The Hill reported.

Biden’s campaign has already been running ads in competitive states Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida and Arizona, but will expand into traditionally Republican states Iowa, Ohio, Georgia and Texas, according to The Hill. President Donald Trump has been polling close to Biden in those four states, according to FiveThirtyEight, despite winning each of them by over five points in 2016.

In addition to placing ad buys in the 10 states, all of which Trump won, Biden’s campaign is reserving air time in Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, Virginia and New Hampshire, all of which Hillary Clinton won in 2016.

Biden’s campaign has insisted that the 15 states are all in play come November, according to The Hill, referring to statewide polls that have shown either a neck-and-neck race or Biden lead. (RELATED: ‘A Democratic Tsunami’: The Cook Political Report Updates Its 2020 Map)

The massive buy is a way to maximize Biden’s chances at capturing the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, said Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, his campaign manager.

“We’re really building a strategy that allows for that expanded map and to be on offense,” she said.


The $280 million buy can be allocated and moved freely, meaning that the campaign can focus on one or two specific states if necessary, The Hill reported.

“We think it’s important people hear him because it goes to the issue of leadership and a kind of reassuring presence we believe the public sees in Joe Biden,” Mike Donilon, a senior advisor on Biden’s campaign, told The Hill.

The Trump campaign also returned to the airwaves this week under its new campaign manager, Bill Stepien, with ads showing in Georgia, Arizona, Florida and North Carolina, as well as a national ad buy, according to The Hill.

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