Abortion rights group launches $5M campaign to help Dems take back the House

A pro-abortion rights group on Thursday announced a $5 million investment in 19 states to flip the House to Democratic control in November. 

“NARAL was built for this moment. Never before have our rights and freedoms been under greater attack, and never before have we had greater opportunity to fight back and win,” said NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue. 

NARAL plans to go after anti-abortion Republicans up and down the ballot in states including California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa and Michigan.{mosads}

The “Majority Maker” program, the largest spending plan in the group’s history, will specifically target GOP House members who have voted for anti-abortion bills that have flown under the radar, usually because they failed to pass the Senate. 

Hogue used the example of Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), who voted in favor of a bill that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. 

“There is no way that Mast voters know he has taken these votes. He certainly doesn’t trumpet it from his stump speech that he is voting to remove people’s rights left and right, with no exception for rape or incest,” Hogue said. 

The $5 million will go toward mail, phone calls, digital ads, door-to-door canvassing, TV ads and rallies, with a focus on activating voting blocs in swing districts, primarily female suburban voters, according to a NARAL press release. 

That bloc has shown to be crucial in this election cycle already, Hogue said, especially in the 2017 Virginia governor’s race, which was won by Democrat Ralph Northam. 

“By targeting key voting blocs in crucial swing states, we’re engaging voters in the fight to build on our clear momentum, take back the House with a pro-choice majority, and expand on the already impressive work we’ve done to defend our essential rights,” said NARAL political director Nicole Brener-Schmitz. 

The NARAL campaign compliments a $20 million midterm campaign from Planned Parenthood announced in March. 

That campaign will target key Senate races in hopes of helping Democrats win control of the Senate. 

Meanwhile, the Susan B. Anthony List, a national anti-abortion group, held a large fundraiser Tuesday to raise money for its own midterm efforts. 

The group is planning to raise and spend $25 million this cycle, up from the $18 million it spent in the lead-up to the 2016 elections.