California Gov. Gavin Newsom is launching an aggressive ad campaign Tuesday to boost his quest to revamp the state's congressional maps in response to Republican maneuvering in Texas.
The initiative — which will involve 10 ads across television and digital by the week's end — is the first major push by Newsom’s ballot measure committee aimed at blanketing Democrats with information on the remap question, called Prop 50, and driving out turnout for the Nov. 4 special election. In all, the undertaking — including ground organization and ads — could cost some $100 million.
Newsom is leading the political group behind the ballot initiative, which has already drawn millions of dollars in fundraising, the campaign said.
One ad, "Blitzkrieg," directly attacks President Donald Trump, saying he is operating out of a dictator’s playbook, attempting to suppress the free press, attacking major educational institutions and carrying out warrantless arrests. The other ad, "Emergency," lays out a detailed case for why Democrats are embarking on the effort now.
The ads premiere Tuesday across Newsom’s social media accounts, which have drawn a surge in interest in recent weeks. Other ads to drop this week will feature Newsom himself, as well as Democratic California Sen. Alex Padilla.
Newsom has called the Nov. 4 campaign the "Election Rigging Response Act," with Prop 50 a reference of parity across 50 states. Voters will choose whether to move forward with a California remap that Newsom has said would neutralize Texas' redraw, which is expected to potentially add five Republican seats to the state.
Newsom has framed his efforts as an attempt to level the playing field with Republicans, who have already signed into law a newly gerrymandered congressional map in Texas. They have also announced they are looking at similar opportunities elsewhere.
The task around November’s initiative, Newsom's team believes, is to motivate and drive out base voters and, unlike the strategy around national campaigns for Democrats, it will not focus on persuading a swing electorate. In that sense, the campaign blueprint is similar to that of Newsom’s successful efforts to squash a recall effort in 2021.
Newsom’s opponents are already signaling they’ll spend big on an advertising push aimed to persuade voters to vote against his proposal; they’ve booked and spent almost $10 million in ads so far, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, and they just launched their first ad that argues that the ballot proposition “threatens” the independent redistricting commission and that a vote against the proposal is a vote to “protect your vote and democracy.”
Charles Munger Jr. a billionaire physicist who has long been a conservative mega-donor in the state, has already donated $20 million to the “No on Prop 50” effort.
Launching the ads from Newsom's social media accounts comes as interest exploded in his office's social media posts after it launched a series of mocking posts that mimicked Trump’s all-caps style of communicating over social media.
Since Aug. 1, the governor’s press account grew by 500,000 followers and, according to his team, made more than 480 million impressions, an engagement rate that leapt by 35% and more than 2.5 million profile visits.
