Pro-Biden super PAC expands ad buy in Arizona as Trump’s support slips
A deep-pocketed group backing Joe Biden will begin pouring additional money into Arizona this month, expanding its effort in the battleground state as Democrats try to capitalize on President Donald Trump’s recent decline in support with voters.
Priorities USA, the primary super PAC supporting Biden, is investing an additional $831,000 in TV ads in Arizona this month, spokeswoman Daniela Martins said, nearly as much money as the group has spent over the airwaves in the state the entire election cycle.
Combined with digital ads, Priorities now plans to spend more than $1 million total in Arizona in July. To date this cycle, the group had spent $900,000 total on TV ads in the state.
Priorities officials say the extra spending comes after its internal data showed Trump’s support dropping fast in Arizona amid the public’s increasingly sour view of his response to the coronavirus pandemic, subsequent economic fallout, and the Black Lives Matter protests.
“In recent tracking, Arizona has shown more movement than any other battleground state,” the group says in a press release to be released Wednesday.
In a briefing with reporters earlier this month, Priorities chairman Guy Cecil identified Arizona and North Carolina as the two swing states that had shifted the most in Biden’s favor amid a nationwide drop in support for Trump.
Some polls now show the president trailing Biden nationally by more than 10 points. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll found Biden leading by seven points in Arizona, a state Trump won by more than three points in 2016.
Arizona has been engulfed by a resurgence of the coronavirus in recent weeks, with Republican Gov. Doug Ducey this week announcing a new wave of shutdowns to deal with the outbreak. Priorities officials stressed that although that spike in cases has contributed to the president’s declining support there, it’s not the only factor.
The super PAC also released a new digital ad on Wednesday targeting Latino voters in Arizona and Florida, criticizing Trump’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. The spot, running in both English and Spanish, features news clips calling the president chaotic before Trump himself is shown rating his own response to the pandemic a “10.”
Priorities officials have said they plan to spend as much as $200 million total working to defeat Trump in 2020.
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Pro-Biden super PAC expands ad buy in Arizona as Trump’s support slips."