Loeffler books $4M in ads for Georgia Senate race

Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) is poised to spend roughly $4 million on a series of ads pushing back on criticism of her financial transactions and touting her efforts to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

The ad buy is the most expensive yet from Loeffler, a multimillionaire former financial services executive who has already vowed to spend $20 million of her own money on the Senate race.

The three new ads are set to launch Tuesday on broadcast, cable, radio and digital platforms across Georgia, Loeffler’s campaign said Monday.

The ads characterize recent attacks on Loeffler as “liberal lies,” while touting her response to the coronavirus pandemic, including donating her Senate salary to charities involved in relief efforts.

“While the Left, media and her opponents play politics, Kelly will not be distracted by their false attacks,” Stephen Lawson, Loeffler’s communications director, said in a statement Monday. “Instead, she remains laser-focused on helping Georgians emerge from this crisis stronger than ever.”

One ad draws a direct comparison between Loeffler and President Trump, saying both have been “unfairly targeted” by attacks.

“The liberals unfairly target President Trump every day, just like they’re unfairly targeting conservative Kelly Loeffler,” a narrator says in the ad, as video clips of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), former Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) flash across the screen. “But they’re both standing strong.”

Loeffler was appointed to the Senate late last year to fill the seat of now-retired Sen. Johnny Isakson (R). She will face voters for the first time in November, and she has already drawn an intraparty challenge from Rep. Doug Collins, who has touted himself as a Trump loyalist and more reliable conservative.

A handful of Democrats are also competing for the chance to flip the Senate seat. The Rev. Raphael Warnock is the preferred candidate of national Democrats.

Loeffler’s stock trades have come under scrutiny in recent weeks, with her political opponents accusing her of profiting off the economic turmoil spurred by the coronavirus pandemic. She has denied any wrongdoing, noting that her investments are made by third-party advisers without her knowledge.