Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
Democrats and Republicans alike touted the CHIPS and Science Act on the campaign trail in 2022.
In Indiana, Sen. Todd Young ran four different ads stressing how the CHIPS Act would not just create jobs but also thwart threats from China, talking points that are easy for manufacturing communities to get behind.
- "Communist China is the greatest threat we face today. They steal our technology and our jobs," Young said in one ad.
- Young played a key role in getting the bill through Congress, negotiating text and getting his Republican colleagues on board.
Limestone Strategies principal Cam Savage, who helped Young get re-elected, said: "There is literally no question that was the singular message of our fall re-election campaign."
- "We really wanted people to know that this was something that their senator had put a lot of effort and a lot of political capital into getting done."
- Savage said that even though semiconductors don't fall under the "outrage of the day" that gets the most attention, people in Indiana are more aware of the law now and better understand its implications, especially as new projects are announced.
Sen. Raphael Warnock in a 2022 ad stressed how he worked with Republicans "to invest in American companies who invest in the technology we need so Georgia workers aren't forced to rely on countries like China."
Pennsylvania Rep. Susan Wild said in an ad that year: "Working with both Republicans and Democrats, I helped pass the CHIPS Act to manufacture billions of these microchips here instead of overseas."
