Republicans romped in Florida last year. Biden may try to compete in the state anyway
Joe Biden isn’t ready to give up on Florida.
As part of a broad advertising effort that includes electoral battlegrounds like Michigan and Georgia, the president’s reelection campaign will begin running a new ad this week in the state highlighting Biden’s economic record.
It’s the second ad the campaign has released since the president announced he would run for reelection last week.
The ad, slated to run on cable in the Orlando and Tampa media markets and on online platforms across the state, represents a relatively tiny investment compared to the multi-million-dollar sums campaigns have spent in the state in the past. And it comes only after the reelection campaign last week made a first wave of investments in core electoral battlegrounds like Nevada and Pennsylvania.
But the spending is nonetheless noteworthy in a state where national Democrats largely declined to spend money last year, despite the presence of a U.S. Senate and gubernatorial race. Strategists from both parties have speculated that Florida — which Biden lost in 2020 and currently has no Democratic statewide elected officials — is on track to lose its long-held place as a top presidential battleground next year after a string of GOP wins, including Gov. Ron DeSantis’ nearly 20-point victory in 2022.
In addition to Florida, Biden’s reelection campaign also included North Carolina in its latest ad buy, another state the president lost in 2020.
Biden officials say the campaign is intent on competing in many states that can help it win reelection next year.
“The addition of NC and FL to the media buy demonstrates the Biden campaign sees many paths to 270 electoral votes,” said Kevin Munoz, spokesman for Biden’s campaign. “And that the campaign is investing early in building on Biden’s strength in the sunbelt.”
The new spot is part of a million-dollar investment from the campaign this week in select battleground states. It is paid for by the Democratic National Committee, as part of a coordinated party expenditure.
The campaign’s first ad ran in Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada. The second ad includes those core six states while also expanding to Florida and North Carolina.
Its message also dovetails with the campaign’s first ad, which focused on what Democrats characterized as defending personal freedoms and American democracy.
The ad this week focuses on the economy, referencing (though not by name) Biden-backed legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that it says helps “reward hard work.”
“Over 12 million jobs have been created,” a narrator says. “And Joe Biden’s building an economy that leaves no city, no town, no American behind.”
Biden is expected to win the Democratic presidential nomination next year with ease. So far, only two candidates — self-help guru Marianne Williamson and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — have declared that they will run against Biden in the party’s primary. Polls show the incumbent president leading both candidates by a large margin.
This story was originally published May 3, 2023 at 11:00 AM.