Outside groups pour tens of millions of dollars into Amy Coney Barrett confirmation fight
More than a dozen conservative and liberal political groups have announced plans to spend millions on ads
The battle over the Supreme Court vacancy will play a role in defining the contentious 2020 presidential race, and campaign advocacy groups on both sides of the aisle have already poured tens of millions of dollars into a fight whose outcome is almost certain, according to an analysis of spending by Fox Business. More than a dozen conservative and liberal political groups alike have announced plans to spend millions on campaign ads in battleground states and nationally, specifically targeting the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. President Trump announced Barrett as his third nominee to the Supreme Court less than two weeks ago, and has pledged to get her confirmation through the Senate before the Nov. 3 election – greatly frustrating Democrats.
Super PACs and “dark money” groups have spent millions on advertising in the weeks following the death of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paving the way for a massive campaign ad battle. The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to begin Barrett’s confirmation hearing Monday and some groups, like the conservative Club for Growth, released their latest ad Thursday in anticipation of the four-day session. “We’re seeing growing support for Judge Barrett’s nomination,” president of Club for Growth David Macintosh said Thursday. Macintosh confirmed to FOX Business that the organization and their Super PAC, Club for Growth Action, will spend $5 million in their latest ad campaign. The ad promotes Barrett’s confirmation to the high court on a national level, but also targets two vulnerable states – Utah and Alaska. “We have a very strong view that they should proceed to confirm her before the election,” Macintosh said Thursday. “The question of control is certainly up in this election.”
The libertarian political advocacy group, funded by David and Charles Koch, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), also confirmed to FOX Business that they will be spending a “seven-figure” ad campaign in their support for filling the Supreme Court vacancy. AFP confirmed that that the “seven-figure” amount set aside for digital ads is not inclusive in the “grass roots” work that the organization also does to promote their interest in the Supreme Court confirmation. “Minutes after President Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett, we launched a full scale grassroots campaign to mobilize our activists across the country and drive her confirmation to the high court,” Casey Mattox, vice president for legal and judicial strategy with AFP, told FOX Business. Mattox said that the targeted digital and direct-mail advertising is just one element of the group’s strategy to get Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court, which has “already exceed[ed] the major impact we had during the 2018 confirmation,” he added. “And with the hearings just around the corner…we expect that energy will only grow,” Mattox said.
AFP, along with 200 other conservative groups, sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Thursday, urging the Senate to confirm Barrett. “Because of the judicial philosophy she embraces, the confirmation of Judge Barrett is of critical importance both to our country and to future generations of Americans,” the group wrote in a letter obtained by FOX Business. But these campaigns are just the tip of the iceberg. The Republican National Committee announced a $10-million ad campaign following Barrett’s nomination ceremony at the end of September, to increase “voters’ enthusiasm about appointing a constitutionalist” to the Supreme Court. The digital ad campaign was intended to “motivate and persuade” voters to get to the polls on Election Day and throw their support behind GOP senators who are considered to be vulnerable. Conservative groups that took offense to Democrat’s alleged prejudice regarding Barrett’s Catholic faith have launched ads honing in on the issue.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/amy-coney-barrett-confirmation-outside-groups-pour-tens-of-millions-of-dollars-into-fight
https://judicialnetwork.com/in-the-news/stop-the-bigotry-ad-campaign/
https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00492140&cycle=2020
https://demandjustice.org/demand-justice-statement-on-anticipation-of-amy-coney-barrett/