Haley Voters for Harris launches seven-figure ad buy in key states

Haley Voters For Harris, a political group seeking to sway center-right and former Nikki Haley supporters in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris, is launching a new seven-figure digital ad campaign in key states, with messages personalized around the economy, financial responsibility and Harris’ prosecutorial record.

The effort will focus particularly on Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, the “blue wall states,” and will target voters in North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia.

“We think there are many, many voters who will be receptive to our message, and we know that there are more of them, potentially many more in fact, than the likely margin of victory that is going to occur for one of the two candidates, on November 5, said Craig Snyder, the organization’s national director.

The group grew out of a political action committee supporting Haley over former President Donald Trump. After Haley’s primary defeat, he threw his weight behind President Joe Biden, and now Harris with the Democratic ticket switch. They are looking to reach people who voted for Haley in the primaries and center-right voters.

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The group’s leaders believe that with the right messages, reliable messengers and a targeted audience, they can make a “positive case” and increase the number of center-right voters considering supporting Harris.

“The question is how do we get people who don’t like Donald Trump, but who may have never voted for a Democrat for president in their lives, to come out and vote for the vice president, to cross into somehow this last bridge? Snyder posed. “The answer, we think, and what our research has shown, is that you demonstrate with facts that the vice president is a member of the American center.”

“She may be center-left, and these voters may be center-right, but the main thing is that they can come together in the center and find common ground,” he added. “Particularly on major issues like fiscal responsibility and closing borders, fighting crime, these are all facts that concern the vice president’s record, and we think many of these voters may not know them. be not.”

The series of ads features longtime Republican and conservative voters who now support Harris, using what Snyder called “common-sense facts and arguments.”

“The Harris campaign has made a concerted effort to reach out and try to build a coalition with center-right voters and Republicans, but it’s still a Democratic campaign talking to Republicans,” Snyder told Scripps News . “What we’re doing is inviting Republican colleagues, conservative colleagues, people with long credentials in the party, in many cases, to talk to their friends, to their neighbors, to their peers.”

The ads seek to contrast the candidates’ economic policies. They point to Trump’s proposals to cut the corporate tax rate and raise tariffs, which some experts say would end up raising taxes, while also pointing to Harris’ plan, which they say would would lower taxes for middle-class Americans and be more fiscally responsible.

“The prices are too high, but Trump’s tariffs would be a giant sales tax that would make everything even more expensive,” said Kyle, a longtime Alabama Republican appointee in the ads.

“With a Republican Senate likely, these checks and balances will keep our country sane,” said Ann, a longtime conservative appointee in the ad.

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“I’m a conservative, I don’t agree with Harris on everything, but she was a tough prosecutor and she put bad guys in jail,” said Jay, known as a lifelong Republican in the ad.

The group tested its message with undecided center-right voters, finalizing it after last month’s debate between Harris and Trump before the rollout.

“What our research shows is that when they are exposed to these facts, it has a measurable effect on their voting behavior and leads them to be willing to vote for a Democrat for president when they are not. have maybe never done before,’” Snyder says.

The group claims to use ideological preferences and geographic data to target voters. It will identify moderate and independent Republican voters using party registration data, turnout records and consumer insights for the media campaign which is expected to reach streaming apps, social media sites and websites. games.

The organization expects the media campaign to reach more than 2.5 million voters, including 1.5 million in Pennsylvania, 600,000 in Michigan and 400,000 in Wisconsin, as well as tens of thousands in Sun Belt states, according to data shared with Scripps News. Snyder believes the numbers exceed what is needed to have a significant impact on the outcome of these states.

“Our goal is to have between 25% and 40% of these center-right voters make the decision to vote for Vice President Harris. We think we can do it. And we believe that if we achieve that goal, then we will help win these states for the vice president,” he said.

The numbers could be critical amid what polls show is a tight race between Harris and Trump.

A recent New York Times/Siena College poll found that 44% of independent voters surveyed in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio supported Harris, compared to 49% for Trump, but 8% didn’t know or didn’t respond .

These voters have been the focus of the Harris-Walz campaign, which has made extensive efforts to reach anti-Trump, moderate and independent voters.

The campaign launched the Republicans for Harris organizing coalition in August to deepen its outreach to Republicans. He has spent more than seven figures on voter outreach, including an ad in Pennsylvania last week featuring former Trump voters who now support Harris, according to a campaign official.

Harris has garnered notable Republican endorsements, including from former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Rep. Liz Cheney, John McCain’s son Jimmy, and former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, in addition to hundreds of former GOP staffers and national security officials.

“The Vice President is uniting voters across the political spectrum by running a campaign on freedom, democracy and opportunity. Our Republicans for Harris program delivers this unifying and inspiring message to anti-Trump Republicans, moderates and independents,” said Austin Weatherford, national Republican outreach director for the Harris-Walz campaign. “We know these are votes we must win, and we continue to work every day to convince the millions of Republicans ready to turn the page on the chaos, extremism and division of Donald Trump.”

Meanwhile, Trump focused on describing Harris as “radical”, emphasizing the economy, borders and foreign policy as key themes of his campaign. And on the trail, his campaign boasted the support of former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

“We’re seeing more enthusiasm on the Republican side than we’ve ever seen. In reality, the fight is over. You know, some moderates and independents and even disgruntled Democrats haven’t made a decision, but time and time again, what they’re demonstrating that’s going to help them make a decision is commitment on the three main issues.” , said the Trump campaign official. Councilor Brian Hughes said following last month’s debate.