Deval Patrick rolls out six-figure ad buy in early states

Democratic presidential hopeful Deval Patrick rolled out his first ad buy in early voting states on Monday. 

Patrick’s campaign said the six-figure digital and television ad buy will target Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.  “Significant” investments will be made in New Hampshire and South Carolina, it added. 

The ad buy includes a 30-second spot, titled “Not Too Late,” in which the former Massachusetts governor explains his decision to run for president. 

“Some people say it’s too late for me to run for president,” Patrick said in the ad. “But growing up on the South Side of Chicago, people told me then what I could and couldn’t do. I’ve been an underdog my whole life, and I’ve never let that stop me.”

Patrick launched his presidential campaign in November, promising to unify the centrist and progressive wings of the Democratic Party.

His campaign has homed in on South Carolina and New Hampshire, banking on South Carolina’s African American voters and New Hampshire’s close proximity to Massachusetts. 

However, Patrick’s campaign has yet to make a significant impression in the polls since his late entry late last year. 

A WBUR poll of New Hampshire voters showed Patrick polling below 1 percent, while a Change Research-Post and Courier survey of South Carolina voters showed him at 1 percent support last month.