ICYMI: $4 Million TX Runoff Ad Rez Announced Against RINOs Who Opposed School Freedom
Washington, D.C. – In case you missed it, the Club for Growth Action announced a $4 million TV and radio ad reservation against five so-called “Republicans” who opposed Gov. Abbott’s school freedom legislation and are engaged in primary runoffs. Phil Prazan of NBC DFW published an exclusive report on the announcement.
Club for Growth Action affiliated School Freedom Fund spent nearly $4 million on the primaries ahead of the runoff and defeated 7 incumbents on election day and 5 went to a runoff. Earlier this week, Club for Growth Action, allies of Gov. Greg Abbott, and American Federation of Children Victory Fund announced the three groups have jointly raised 8-figures to spend in the runoffs.
Club for Growth Action will target the following districts in the runoff: HD-01, HD-21, HD-33, HD-44, and HD-58
Reserved Ad Spending By Market:
- Dallas-Ft. Worth: $2.1 million
- Beaumont: $896,000
- San Antonio: $657,000
- Shreveport: $305,000
NBC DFW STORY EXCERPTS
The March primary elections for the Texas House saw historic amounts of spending.
An analysis by NBC 5 found that more than $25 million was spent in total throughout the state for Texas House races from January through the first week of March.
One of the major spenders tells NBC 5 they plan to spend millions more on the handful of runoff elections still in play.
Club for Growth spent $4 million in Republican primary elections through its affiliate, the School Freedom Fund. The group’s President, David McIntosh, confirms they have already set another $4 million in TV ads in April in five small runoff elections. He aims to get Governor Greg Abbott’s priority of school choice vouchers to pass the Texas House, where it was voted down last year.
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“The political message is if you’re against school choice, you’re no longer a conservative Republican. You’re basically a RINO (Republican-in-name-only),” said McIntosh.
The group has reserved $2.1 million in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro to oppose Rep. Justin Holland, R- Rockwall, and Rep. DeWayne Burns, R – Cleburne with TV ads; $657,000 in San Antonio to oppose Rep. John Kuempel, R – Seguin; and $305,000 in Shreveport, LA to oppose Rep. Gary VanDeaver, R – New Boston
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“‘They wouldn’t be in trouble if they hadn’t gone against Governor Abbott. They wouldn’t be in trouble if they didn’t go against the voters in their district, promise to be conservatives and then vote the other way when they get to Austin,” said McIntosh.
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McIntosh tells NBC 5 that a coalition of Club for Growth, the American Federation for Children, and Governor Abbott’s political organization will likely spend more than $10 million in the four Texas House races.
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The primary runoffs are on May 28. McIntosh hopes its spending in the Spring will defeat at least two of the four incumbent Republicans they’re targeting. If that’s the case, it will likely have the votes next legislative session if all the members are present and Democrats don’t pick off a seat or two in the November elections. These new advertisements will come directly from Club for Growth’s PAC.
“It will get the point across,” said McIntosh. “We’re educating the voters on what the choice is.”