House Democrats target Hispanic voters in battlegrounds with new barrage of ads

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) on Wednesday announced a seven-figure ad campaign targeting Hispanic voters in battleground districts throughout the country.

The digital, print and radio ads seek to promote mail voting and to support candidates in tough races.

“We are not taking anything or anyone for granted and our latest investment in digital, print, and radio advertising will reach voters where they get their news,” said Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), chairwoman of the DCCC, in a statement.

“These investments are only possible because of the early commitment we made to research in critical Latino communities, and build on our on-the-ground work to engage and mobilize Latino voters across the House battlefield,” added Bustos.

The digital ads will run on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Pandora, Snapchat and YouTube.

They will target voters in five districts in California; two each in Arizona, Nevada and New York; one each in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Georgia, New Jersey, Utah and Florida; and eight districts in Texas.

Similarly, radio ads will target nine Texas districts, three in California, two in New York and one each in New Mexico and New Jersey.

Print ads will focus more heavily on California. They will be aimed at voters in six of the state’s districts, as well as in four Texas districts and one each in Florida and New York.

The distribution of ads reflects the DCCC’s battleground map. It is defending substantial gains made in 2018 in California and hoping to replicate that success this year in Texas.

The latest ad barrage follows an independent expenditure TV campaign — ads that weren’t coordinated with individual campaigns and don’t count against campaign spending — released to prop up candidates in California, New Mexico, Florida and Texas.

The content of the ads reflects wildly different realities on the ground across the country.

The video, radio and generic Spanish-language print ads relay a message generally supporting Democratic House candidates and instructions on how to vote by mail.

Early voting has traditionally been favored by Hispanic voters, but they have been slow to adopt mail voting in previous elections.

Initial data seems to show Hispanic voter participation could build on its 2018 surge, despite the difficulties posed by voting during the coronavirus pandemic.

Democrats are pushing two websites, IWillVote.com and VoyAVotar.com, hoping to turn voter interest into effective voter participation.

But the latest ads follow the independent expenditure campaign targeting individual races, such as the one in Florida’s 26th Congressional District, where Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D) is fighting off a challenge from Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giménez (R).

The DCCC TV ad for that district includes a label bestowed by Democrats on Giménez, “El Corrupto,” and images of Giménez and his two sons, CJ and Julio, a lobbyist and a businessman respectively who have done business with Miami-Dade County.