Republicans ramp up Virginia ad spending before Election Day
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Republicans are pumping big bucks into Virginia's statewide races in the wake of Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones' text scandal.
Why it matters: The cash infusion may signal the GOP is feeling more optimistic about its chances in Virginia just weeks away from Election Day.
State of play: The Republican Governors Association sent Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears — the Republican gubernatorial nominee — another $1.5 million last week, Politico reports.
- That brought the group's total contributions to Sears' campaign to $5 million, matching what the Democratic Governors Association had spent on the party's gubernatorial nominee, Abigail Spanberger.
- The infusion was especially notable given the group's reluctance over the summer to spend much more than the $500,000 it had already contributed, despite Spanberger's massive cash advantage, Politico added.
Meanwhile, the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) dropped $4.5 million into Attorney General Jason Miyares' reelection campaign last week, more than doubling its previous contributions to him, the group announced.
- RAGA's donation is the "largest investment by any national committee " into Virginia races this year, and it set a new campaign spending record in Virginia for the group.
Zoom in: Much of that new GOP money is being funneled into ads largely focused on text messages sent by Jones in 2022 suggesting a hypothetical scenario involving shooting the then-Republican House speaker and wishing harm on his children.
- Between Oct. 8-14, Republican groups spent more than $2 million on ads mentioning Jones, accounting for two-thirds of the roughly $3.3 million in GOP ad buys across all races in Virginia in that period, an NBC News analysis found.
Between the lines: It's a stark contrast to the state of the races just a month ago, when Virginia's Democratic candidates were outraising their GOP rivals up and down the ticket and across most House of Delegates races, the Washington Post reported.
- Virginia Dems were also outspending the GOP on ads as of last month, per VPAP.
Reality check: Mudslinging ads from both sides (the Dems are focused on tying Sears to Trump and on Republican lieutenant governor nominee John Reid's alleged social media account) are now permeating airwaves across the state and could set a new political ad spending record in Virginia, per WWBT.
What we're watching: The Virginia attorney general debate on Thursday night, which is likely to create new sound bites — which will be turned into new ads for Virginians to enjoy on repeat for the next three weeks.