Cheney getting out-advertised on TV ahead of primary

Rep. Liz Cheney’s campaign has raised millions over the last year, making her one of the top House fundraisers this year. But ahead of Tuesday’s primary, Cheney is getting outspent on Wyoming’s airwaves by Harriet Hageman anyway, according to AdImpact.

Hageman has raised less campaign money than Cheney but has outpaced her on TV since at least early July, the ad-tracking service’s data shows. The Donald Trump-endorsed challenger aired three ads this week, two of which went negative on Cheney. One called her “desperate” and controlled by dark money and Democrats, while the other says the incumbent has made “this election all about her. Well, it’s not about her, it’s about you.”

The other Hageman ad centers on a case in which she represented a Wyoming landowner against the Environmental Protection Agency.

Since last week, Cheney has focused her campaign on an ad featuring her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney. Dick Cheney spends 60 seconds calling Trump a “coward” who lost his election in 2020.

“A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters,” Dick Cheney said in the ad. “He lost his election, and he lost big. I know it. He knows it, and deep down, I think most Republicans know.”

The spot is meant to air on Fox News during “Fox & Friends” and Sean Hannity’s prime-time show, according to Axios. But the ad has also aired outside Wyoming, with $23,911 being spent so far on Washington D.C.-based airings, per AdImpact.

Currently, there are only three outside PACs spending on the race: the Protect Freedom PAC launched a video on Wednesday that accused Liz Cheney of being part of the Washington elite and partnering with “Nancy Pelosi and the radical left to demonize Republicans.”
Another from Wyoming Values PAC said Liz Cheney had left behind Wyoming’s conservative values “a long time ago” and touted Hageman as the solution. Finally, an ad from Americans Keeping Country First said Hageman put “her ambition before Wyoming” over a Colorado-Wyoming water pipeline issue.

Four more ads to watch this week

Senate Majority PAC dropped a new ad on Wednesday in favor of Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman, laying out opponent Mehmet Oz’s many homes and properties compared to himself, who has “one in Braddock, Pennsylvania.” While Oz bought a house in the state eight months ago, says the ad, Fetterman has “Pennsylvania in his blood.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) released a new coordinated spot featuring men in law enforcement uniforms saying it’s not America that has failed, but Rubio’s presumptive Democratic opponent, Rep. Val Demings. One speaker calls her “just another radical rubber stamp” on policies like defunding the police. The buy has totaled more than $267,000 thus far.

The NRSC also dropped big money against Sen. Raphael Warnock last week, spending on an ad saying the incumbent “didn’t see it coming” on issues like “Biden’s reckless spending” and local job creation efforts. “Warnock means well, but it’s not really working,” the narrator says.

In Hawaii’s lieutenant governor race, Change Now PAC released an ad against state Rep. Sylvia Luke for taking thousands in “corrupt” money when she was chair of the House Finance Committee, funds she said she was returning to the state Campaign Spending Commission. “If Sylvia Luke is judged by the company she keeps, she shouldn’t be lieutenant governor,” the ad ends.

TOP CANDIDATE SPENDING (8/3/22-8/10/22, per AdImpact): 

— Kelly for AZ Senate: $2,212,016

— Warnock for GA Senate: $1,653,527

— Shapiro for PA Governor: $1,369,281

— Demings for FL Senate: $1,359,994

— Ryan for OH Senate: $966,913

TOP COMMITTEES/OUTSIDE GROUPS/SUPER PAC SPENDING (8/3/22-8/10/22, per AdImpact):

— Yes on 27 (CA Prop 27 Mobile Sports Betting and Revenue, CA Housing Issue): $6,250,237

— Californians for Tribal Sovereignty and Safe Gaming (CA Prop 27 Mobile Sports Betting and Revenue, CA Gambling Issue): $3,863,338

— One Nation (GA Senate, NH Senate, NV Senate, AZ Senate, OH Senate, WI Senate): $3,453,984

— Senate Majority PAC (NV Senate, WI Senate, AZ Senate, NC Senate, PA Senate, GA Senate): $3,026,622

— Club for Growth Action (WI Governor, FL CD-13, IL Governor): $2,265,245