Top Biden super PAC set to make $250 million investment in fall ad campaign
By Jeff Zeleny and Arlette Saenz, CNN
(CNN) — The preeminent super PAC helping to reinforce President Joe Biden’s reelection bid has reserved $250 million in television and digital advertising in top battleground states in hopes of carrying the message from the Democratic convention in August through Election Day.
The super PAC, Future Forward, is working with the blessing of the White House. Aides to the group said the investment marks the largest single purchase of political advertising by an outside group in campaign history.
“The stakes of this election could not be higher, and by Election Day, every battleground voter will know it,” said Chauncey McLean, a longtime Democratic operative and president of Future Forward. “We’ll run a cost effective and data-driven program of unprecedented scale to reelect Joe Biden.”
The advertising campaign, which was first reported by The New York Times, is set to cover 10 weeks from the Democratic convention in Chicago through the election. The ads are expected to target “lower information, less-partisan voters,” according to a memo obtained by CNN, in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Four years ago, Biden carried all of those states, except North Carolina. But his campaign has its eye on the Tar Heel State – as an insurance policy of sorts – as it prepares for the prospect of a rematch with Donald Trump.
The memo, which lays out the group’s plans for the fall campaign, said its efforts will be concentrated on trying to reach lower-information younger audiences, Spanish language media in key markets and media that over-index with African American voters.
Future Forward PAC was the largest outside advertiser for Biden in 2020, aides said, with an investment of $140 million. This year’s effort is far more robust.
The group is required to disclose its donors, under federal election law. But an allied group called Future Forward USA Action, which can transfer money to the super PAC, is not required to reveal its contributors because it is registered as a nonprofit and is one of the many so-called dark money entities operating across the political spectrum.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect the distinction between the various political organizations and the disclosure requirements under federal election law.
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