Mike Pence Heavily Increases Digital Ad Buying in Wake of Seismic Abortion Decision Overturning Roe
Mike Pence has increased his digital ad spending in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, a move that could signify the former vice president is gearing up for a 2024 presidential run.
Advancing American Freedom, an organization Pence founded that promotes “conservative values and policy proposals,” has dropped over $100,000 on Facebook and Google ads this year, but more than half of that spending has been just in the last month, FWIW’s Kyle Tharp and Nick Seymour reported on Friday through Substack.
A collection of ads put out by the conservative group mainly feature Pence himself, take shots at Biden, and some even name-check Roe v. Wade. Many previous ads from the company reportedly focused on the upcoming midterm elections. One ad features Pence with the message: “will you help me build the next pro-life movement?” Two others feature images from gas stations with the message: “these prices are unacceptable.”
A video ad specifically responding to Roe v. Wade being overturned by claiming the “weapon” of that law has now been “disarmed,” then showing a collection of images from throughout Pence’s career and handing him credit for the three Donald Trump-nominated conservative Supreme Court Justices largely behind the latest controversial ruling: Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Neil Gorsuch.
Tharp and Seymour predict in their column that Pence’s spending could be a sign he will soon be jumping into a potentially competitive primary for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination. Trump has also indicated he may be running again, and other names like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) have been thrown around by conservative pundits as possibilities.
Having tracked digital ad spending in the 2020 presidential primaries, we know these types of early acquisition campaigns are critical to candidates looking to start a competitive primary cycle with a grassroots advantage. With over a dozen Republican candidates considering presidential bids – ones that could launch as soon as this month – having a grassroots supporter base will allow them to fundraise, staff up, and hit the ground running early on.
Read the full Substack column here.
