AFP Launches New Ads Targeting Vulnerable Democrats over Support of Bidenomics: ‘It’s Not Working Folks’

Americans for Prosperity, an influential political network founded by the Koch brothers, is out with new ads hitting House and Senate lawmakers who supported Bidenomics.

The new ads, shared exclusively with National Review, will target 31 lawmakers, including incumbent Democratic senators in several key battleground states: Jon Tester of Montana, Jacky Rosen of Nevada,  Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.

The ads note that 60 percent of American workers say their income has not been enough to keep up with inflation.

“It’s definitely costing more to go about your daily routine,” a narrator says in the ad. “Americans, it’s not working folks. It’s no accident — that’s Bidenomics in action.”

The spot ends on a screen saying the name of the targeted lawmaker “voted for this.”

The new ads comes ahead of Biden’s State of the Union address next week and are part of a $1.55 million ad buy the network has placed through the end of March. 

Biden, for his part, is reportedly set to hit back against “shrinkflation” next week, as voter concerns over the economy has left him appearing vulnerable in several swing states. The average American household is paying over $11,000 more each year to keep up the same quality of life as when Biden took office.

Bidenomics “is an absolute train wreck,” AFP’s vice president of government affairs Akash Chougule said in a statement.

“Runaway government spending unleashed the highest levels of inflation in four decades and squeezed family budgets to the breaking point. Now hardworking Americans are paying more but getting less. Every lawmaker who set this train in motion should have to explain to their constituents why they voted to raise prices and greenlight Biden’s most reckless economic policies,” he said.

The ads are set to run on digital and connected TV in the states and districts of the following Democratic members of Congress, in addition to the aforementioned senators: Representatives Mary Peltola (AK-AL), Greg Stanton (AZ-04), Josh Harder (CA-09), Mike Levin (CA-49), Yadira Caraveo (CO-08), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Darren Soto (FL-09), Eric Sorenson (IL-17), Frank Mrvan (IN-01), Sharice Davids (KS-03), Jared Golden (ME-02), Dan Kildee (MI-08), Don Davis (NC-01), Chris Pappas (NH-01), Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), Gabe Vasquez (NM-02), Susie Lee (NV-03), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Pat Ryan (NY-18), Greg Landsman (OH-01), Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Emilia Sykes (OH-13), Susan Wild (PA-07), Matt Cartwright (PA-08), Chris Deluzio (PA-17), and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03).

AFP Action has undertaken its earliest endorsement efforts ever in key Senate and House races. The group has identified retaking the Senate as a top priority after recently pulling its financial support for Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential primary.

AFP has endorsed Senate candidates in four competitive states – Nevada, Montana, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin – and intends to endorse in the other two, Ohio and Michigan, “soon,” a spokeswoman said.

The group recently spent $1.6 million on an ad buy in Nevada and Pennsylvania supporting Republican Senate candidates Sam Brown and Dave McCormick. Another seven-figure ad campaign from the group highlights Tester’s “lockstep voting record” with Biden: the senator has voted with the president 91% of the time.

Republicans have set their sights on retaking the Senate, which is currently narrowly controlled by Democrats. Senator Steve Daines (R., Mt.), the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has said the GOP has the best Senate map in a decade.