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The 2024 presidential race hit the airwaves this week, with both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump's campaigns launching their first TV ads.
Outside groups continued to spend in the presidential race, and campaigns further down the ballot launched new spots as well.
Here are five campaign ads that grabbed our attention:
1. Biden's first ad
Biden didn't waste any time hitting the airwaves after announcing his re-election campaign earlier this week. His campaign teamed up with the Democratic National Committee on a 90-second spot focused on protecting Americans' freedoms.
“Courage, opportunity, democracy, freedom: they’re the values and beliefs that built this country and still beat in our hearts. But they’re under attack by an extreme movement that seeks to overturn elections, ban books, and eliminate a woman’s right to choose,” the narrator says in the ad.
So far, Biden and the DNC have spent $245,000 on ad buys, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact. But Biden's team said it plans to spend seven figures on the ad campaign.
2. Trump targets DeSantis
While Biden was focused squarely on the upcoming general election, the Trump campaign's first TV ad underscores how the former president first has to win the GOP primary. And Trump is trying to define Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis before he even jumps into the race.
Trump's first spot attacks DeSantis for taking on Trump, noting that Trump endorsed DeSantis during his 2018 gubernatorial primary, helping him secure the nomination.
“Unfortunately, instead of being grateful, DeSantis is now attacking the very man who saved his career. Isn’t it time DeSantis remembers how he got to where he is?” a narrator in the ad says.
Trump's campaign has spent $521,000 on cable networks, per AdImpact.
3. Pro-DeSantis group touts his background
Never Back Down, a super PAC backing DeSantis, has spent nearly $6.3 million on ads so far— the most of any outside group or individual campaign.
The group's latest spot highlights DeSantis' background, from his midwestern roots and his time as a Naval prosecutor.
"Gov. DeSantis never backs down because his backbone wasn’t forged overnight," a narrator says in the 30-second spot.
4. West Virginia Senate primary kicks off
The GOP Senate primary kicked off in West Virginia this week with Gov. Jim Justice entering the race to take on Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who has not yet said if he's running for re-election.
While Justice is a top GOP recruit, he'll face a fight for the nomination. GOP Rep. Alex Mooney, who launched a Senate run in November, wasted no time knocking Justice, releasing a TV ad the morning Justice was poised to announce his run. Mooney's campaign has spent $19,000 on ads so far, per AdImpact.
"Big Jim wants to be your senator but he can’t mask the truth," a narrator says over an image of Justice awkwardly donning a face mask. "Liberal Jim Justice just can’t be trusted."
5. Louisiana governor's race heats up
The crowded race to replace term-limited Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-La., heated up this week. On the Republican side, Attorney General Jeff Landry, a top candidate, launched his first TV ad.
In the ad, Landry stressed his law enforcement background, with a narrator saying, "Jeff Landry knows what it takes to fight crime."
Landry's campaign has reserved $87,000 worth of airtime so far, trailing state Treasurer John Schroeder's campaign, which has spent $509,000 on ads, per AdImpact.
Louisiana has a so-called jungle primary system where candidates from all parties will compete on the same ballot in October. If no candidate wins a majority of the vote, the top two vote-getters advance to a November runoff.
