TV ads in three states.

Dems light up airwaves in key secretary of state races

The party's campaign arm for chief election officers is spending $11 million on TV ads in three states.

By ZACH MONTELLARO

The Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, the party’s main campaign arm for races for states’ chief election officers, is launching its largest-ever TV ad campaign, booking $11 million worth of TV ads across three critical battleground states.

The spending from DASS — the first salvo in a general election spending program that will more than double in size before Nov. 8 — highlights the increasing amount of money and attention flowing into the secretary of state contests following former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Since then, he and his allies have turned their attention to these once-obscure contests as they look to change the rules ahead of the 2024 election.

The DASS-affiliated PAC, Safe Accessible Fair Elections, on Tuesday launched TV ads in Michigan, Minnesota and Nevada. Details of the buy were shared first with POLITICO.

Incumbent Democratic secretaries — Michigan’s Jocelyn Benson and Minnesota’s Steve Simon — are facing off in the first two states against challengers that have cast doubt on the 2020 election.

DASS’ Michigan TV ad attacks Republican Kristina Karamo, who has been endorsed by Trump after serving as a poll watcher in 2020 and spreading misinformation about the election. The spot quotes her talking extensively about abortion, calling it “child sacrifice” and “a very satanic practice.”

“Why is Kristina Karamo running for secretary of state? That’s a good question,” the ad’s narrator asks.

The Minnesota ad, meanwhile, focuses more on elections, promoting Simon and highlighting Republican Kim Crockett questioning mail voting. The Nevada ad is a contrast ad in the open-seat race, attacking Republican Jim Marchant over abortion and mail voting while promoting Democrat Cisco Aguilar as someone who will “make sure everyone’s vote is counted, regardless of their political party.”

The group said the first round of buys is part of a larger $25 million program that will also include digital ads, mailers and canvassing. It will also include direct investments into state parties in Arizona and Georgia, two of the closest states in the 2020 presidential election, which also have major secretary contests.

Other major Democratic organizations are targeting these races as well, with End Citizens United partnering with DASS in Michigan and Nevada. A spokesperson for ECU said there are plans “to spend more in these and other states” before the election. The Democratic group iVote previously announced its own $4 million TV buy.

Republicans have not yet mounted a comparable national effort to back GOP secretary of state candidates.