Pro-Trump group to spend $8.7 million on ads in Miami before Election Day
A pro-Trump super PAC announced Tuesday a plan to spend nearly $9 million in Miami in the next month.
America First Action, the largest outside group supporting President Donald Trump’s reelection bid, said it will spend $8.7 million on a mix of TV, digital and direct mail advertisements between Oct. 7 and Election Day.
The group has committed to spending at least $40 million in swing states and is already running ads in Orlando and West Palm Beach as part of a $12.7 million buy that began earlier this month. The group also spent an additional $2.2 million in Orlando earlier this month.
“The ads will focus on Joe Biden’s disastrous economic record, and why Floridians can’t afford to give Biden another four years in office,” the super PAC said in a statement.
The ad released by the group also criticizes Biden on taxes, arguing that Biden will “raise taxes on day one” if elected.
America First has said previously it plans to focus on Trump’s handling of the economy in its messaging to voters. In contrast to other issues, like Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, his handling of the economy polls better with voters across the country.
America First has raised at least $82.9 million during the 2020 election cycle, according to Center for Responsive Politics. As of Aug. 31, the group has spent $49.2 million. Super PACs are able to raise unlimited sums of money from small groups of wealthy donors but are not allowed to coordinate with the campaigns that are controlled by the candidate running for office.
One of the super PAC’s biggest donors is Trish Duggan, a wealthy Florida Scientologist. Duggan and a trust in her name have given $6 million to the super PAC this year after not previously donating to political organizations prior to 2020.
The Tampa Bay Times reported in 2019 that Duggan and her former husband, Bob Duggan, donated more than $360 million to the Church of Scientology. The church and companies run by its members spent $103 million in the last three years on real estate in Clearwater, buying up most of the city’s downtown commercial property. Bob Duggan became a billionaire after selling his pharmaceutical company in 2015 for $3.5 billion.
Other major America First Action backers from Florida include Cherna Moskowitz, a longtime GOP donor who is a major supporter of Israel, businessman Walter Buckley Jr., philanthropist Elaine Wold and her son Keith, and Florida Crystals Corporation. Moskowitz, Buckley and the Wolds have each contributed at least $1 million to America First Action.
The spending by America First Action is among a number of big-dollar ad pushes on Miami airwaves. Groups promoting Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden have pledged to spend north of $300 million in Florida to win the state’s 29 Electoral College votes. Most of the spending is on TV ads, though billionaire and former Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg announced Monday he’s giving $4 million to grassroots organizations in Florida for get-out-the-vote efforts that have been held back due to the coronavirus pandemic. Bloomberg’s grassroots effort is part of a massive $100 million investment in Florida to boost Biden.
Trump spent $1.7 million in the Tampa market from September 19-25, though the Biden campaign is currently outspending Trump nationwide, $42.2 million to $17.5 million in the last week. The Biden campaign is also slightly outspending Trump in Florida — $63.7 million to $57.5 million — from July to mid-September. Including outside spending, the 2020 race in Florida has already led to more than $200 million in political advertising.
