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Multi-million dollar party groups are pumping into West Virginia trying to pressure conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin on key parts of his party’s agenda.
The TV ad launched from both sides of the aisle early last month and ran through June, according to data provided to CNBC by ad analytics firm Medium Buying. Two of the groups are virtually unknown and have quietly tried to make an impact in West Virginia in recent weeks.
The ad war comes as the conservative Koch network is pressing Manchin to oppose certain policies pushed by his fellow Democrats. It’s also the latest example of the importance of the Manchin vote. The Democrats have a slim majority in the Senate, due to Vice President Kamala Harris’s vote-breaking vote, and Manchin is pretty much essential to any legislation the party wants to pass.
One group is End Citizens United/Let America Vote, an organization dedicated to ending the big money in politics and improving voter access to the polls. Her ad campaign urges support for Act for the People, the Democratic-backed election bill that advocates say would limit the influence of big-money donors.
The group began running digital ads in April and TV ads in May in Mountain State. The media-paid side of the campaign is expected to cost $2.5 million, according to the organizers.
CNBC has previewed a copy of a new ad the group will be showing this weekend in West Virginia. Although he doesn’t call Mansion by name, it does feature veteran Roger Champ, who the senator himself presented with the Purple Heart Award in 2017. “We need a law for the people. It’s time for strict morals,” he says. Champ in advertising.
Manchin, in a recent opinion piece, wrote that he opposed repealing the holdup and would not vote for the People’s Act, indicating his desire for more bipartisanship. But his words did not deter the groups from trying to appeal to him.
“We’ve been there for months, and we’ll continue to exist as long as Manchin continues to say that taking no action is not an option,” Adam Posey, vice president of communications for End Citizens United/Let America Vote, told CNBC. E-mail.
Manchin representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
A relatively new group, the West Virginia Freedom Alliance Action Fund, also wants Manchin to support a bill for the people. The group began running ads in West Virginia in late May.
The organization has spent more than $220,000 on both broadcast and cable TV ads since last month, according to Medium Buying. Medium Buying’s latest ad for CNBC shows images of Manchin, while the voiceover says, “Only a great senator can break the deadlock in Washington, to reduce the power of big money, protect our right to vote, and prevent politicians from drawing elections maps that benefit one party and themselves.” “.
This group is represented by BlueWest Media, a Colorado-based media agency. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign paid BlueWest more than $20 million for “media publicity,” according to FEC records. BlueWest Media did not respond to a request for comment.
The Mountain Values Conservation Group, another group that has defied media scrutiny, is urging Manchin to oppose President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure proposal. Since earlier this month, the organization has spent more than $100,000 on broadcast and cable television advertising, according to Medium Buying.
Medium Buying provided CNBC with a copy of the latest Maintain Mountain Values announcement. “What’s their infrastructure plan called? It’s a waste stream, billions of green energy, electric cars and more government luxuries,” says a voiceover during the ad. “Tell Joe Manchin to stop extremists from pouring tax money down the drain,” says the voice at the end of the ad.
FCC documents show that Preserving Mountain Values enlisted SRCP Media as its media advisor. This advertising company lists the “Swift Boat Veterans For Truth” group, which targeted Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004, as one of its former clients. Other agents on the list include former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Senator John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign.
The Treasurer in the FCC documents is Thomas Datwiler, who, according to his LinkedIn page, is a campaign finance compliance advisor.
Data from the Center for Responsive Politics and Federal Election Commission records indicate that Datwyler was the treasurer of the failed campaign run by former Trump aide and federal prisoner George Papadopoulos, who was pardoned by former President Donald Trump; The superstar PAC party that supported Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins; and other political organizations.
SRCP and Datwyler did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
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