What They’re Saying: “DSCC Launches Digital Ads On Jackson In Black Media” That “Advocate For Democrats To Maintain Senate Control”

News coverage is highlighting the DSCC’s new digital ad campaign in local Black media outlets across five battleground states that slams Senate Republicans’ opposition to Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic nomination to the Supreme Court and “underscore[s] the stakes of the midterm elections.”

NBC: Democrats roll out Justice Jackson ads in fight to maintain Senate control
By Natasha Korecki
April 8, 2022

Key Points:

• A day after a historic vote confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will launch a hypertargeted digital ad campaign aimed at Black potential voters in five battleground states.

• The ads, which are set to begin Friday in Black media in states with competitive Senate races, advocate for Democrats to maintain Senate control. The messaging hits Republicans for trying to block Jackson’s confirmation.

• “Senate Republicans tried to stop her. We must defend the Democratic Senate,” reads the ad, first provided to NBC News.

• The ad buy… includes homepage ad “takeovers” on Black media websites. It is set to begin Friday in The Atlanta Voice in Georgia, The Jacksonville Free Press in Florida, The Triangle Tribune in North Carolina, The Philadelphia Tribune in Pennsylvania and the Milwaukee Courier in Wisconsin. The ads are to run for two weeks, a campaign committee spokesman said.

• “If Senate Republicans had their way, Judge Jackson, an exceptionally qualified jurist and the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, wouldn’t have even been given a hearing,” spokesperson Freedom Alexander Murphy said in a statement.

• Murphy called Republican attacks during the confirmation process “ridiculous” and said Thursday’s vote underscored the stakes of the midterm elections.

• “They will only energize Black voters to help protect and expand Democrats’ Senate majority in November,” he said.

Washington Post: DSCC launches digital ads on Jackson in Black media
April 8, 2022

• In a bid to energize Black voters after Justice-designate Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Friday announced the purchase of digital ads in local Black media outlets in five battleground states.

• The ads are among the earliest in what is expected to be a sustained effort by Democrats to use the confirmation of the first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court to their advantage in the upcoming midterm elections.

• According to the DSCC, the ads are running prominently on the homepages of publications in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — all states where Democrats would benefit from higher Black turnout in November.

• The ads feature photos of Jackson with this warning: “SENATE REPUBLICANS TRIED TO STOP HER. WE MUST DEFEND THE DEMOCRATIC SENATE.”

The Root: Democrats Launch Campaign Ads Featuring Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
By Keith Reed
April 8, 2022

They’re wasting no time pointing at swing-state Republicans who opposed her.

• The campaign arm for Senate Democrats is launching an ad campaign in five cities, aiming to remind Black voters of Republicans’ opposition to the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.

• The campaign will run in Black newspapers and online news outlets including the Atlanta Voice, Jacksonville Free Press, Triangle Tribune in North Carolina, Philadelphia Tribune and Milwaukee Courier. The goal is to punish Republican candidates by reminding Black voters in battleground states of their treatment of the first Black woman confirmed to the Supreme Court. Multiple Republicans attacked her judicial record during confirmation hearings and several walked out of the Senate chamber on Thursday after the historic, 53-47 vote confirming her to the Court.

• The campaign features images of Jackson as she was questioned during her confirmation hearings in March. The tagline reads, “Senate Republicans tried to stop her. We must defend the Democratic Senate.”

• It is part of a larger effort by the DSCC to target voters, especially Black ones, in battleground states with control of Congress on the line later this year. In September, the organization announced it would pour $30 million into a midterm ground effort in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Washington Times: Senate Dems target Black media markets with ad hitting GOP for opposing Jackson nomination
April 8, 2022

• Senate Democrats are launching an ad campaign in Black media markets blasting Republicans for opposing incoming Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

• The ads aim to mobilize Black voters in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

• “If Senate Republicans had their way, Judge Jackson, an exceptionally qualified jurist and the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, wouldn’t have even been given a hearing,” said Freedom Alexander Murphy, a spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the campaign arm for the chamber’s Democrats.

• Mr. Murphy added that GOP attacks on Judge Jackson “underscored the stakes of the 2022 election,” which he said paved the way for a strong turnout amongst Black voters for Democrats.

MSNBC, Jim Messina: “Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee started running ads talking about McConnell’s statement, talking about how important these Supreme Court fights are in some of these swing seats. You know, you have open seats in some of the most contentious and purple states in the country – like Pennsylvania, like Ohio, you have a big race in Wisconsin, and the court could be a very important motivational issue for Democrats in these seats.”

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