GOP wants to reclaim California seats. Here’s why it’s spending heavily in Fresno
Watch TV in the San Joaquin Valley?
Get ready to see a lot of political ads this fall.
A major GOP super political action committee announced this week that it already is reserving $1.6 million in TV advertising space against Rep. TJ Cox, the Fresno Democrat who in 2018 defeated Republican Rep. David Valadao.
Congressional Leadership Fund, a Super PAC endorsed by House GOP leadership, announced $43 million in advertising reservations across the country on Thursday. The reservations reflect some of their main priorities – showing where the Republican Party feels it has the best chance at taking back the House.
California Republican congressmen lost seven seats in the 2018 Blue Wave election. GOP’s Congressional Leadership Fund is now trying to reclaim all of those districts.
For instance, it did not announce a plan to buy ads in the northern San Joaquin Valley district represented by Democratic Rep. Josh Harder, who defeated Republican Rep. Jeff Denham two years ago.
The buy against Cox might be its largest against any one candidate in California. The Congressional Leadership Fund also reserved $3 million in the Los Angeles area, but there are a few candidates in that area that Republicans are looking to oust, so spending there likely won’t focus on just one candidate.
The $1.6 million buy was in the Fresno-Bakersfield area, where Cox is the only candidate the Congressional Leadership Fund is targeting.
Cox in 2018 highlighted Valadao’s votes for proposals that would have undone parts to the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.
Cox’s campaign plan
In a statement, Cox’s 2020 campaign manager suggested the Democrat would return to the same theme.
“His Super PAC friends can reserve every TV spot between now and Election Day but the Central Valley will never forget Trump ally David Valadao’s unforgivable vote to take away health care from 60,000 people in the Central Valley,” Amanda Sands, Cox’s campaign manager, told McClatchy in a statement.
Valadao is a former Republican representative who Cox beat in 2018 and is challenging him again in 2020. Valadao is slightly edging out Cox on campaign funds at the moment, with about $1 million in cash on hand compared to Cox’s $860,000. Cox has spent more than Valadao so far.
This is the first round of the Congressional Leadership Fund’s ad buys, and more will follow. These are reservations, meant to get the ad space before prices shoot up closer to the election. They will likely start running in September and October, but the exact content of the ads hasn’t been planned yet.
“The investment we’re making today is just the first of multiple offense-focused advertising reserves to ensure (Democrat House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi’s days as Speaker are numbered,” the committee’s president, Dan Conston, said in a statement.
Veterinarian Ted Howze is challenging Harder, the Democrat who defeated former Rep. Denham, for 2020.
“While Josh Harder is a weak hitter, TJ Cox is probably the weakest batter in the California Democrats congressional lineup,” said Tim Rosales, spokesman for Howze. “I’m not surprised he’s the one CLF wants to pitch to first.”
Harder has proven himself one of the best freshman fundraisers in the 2020 cycle, raising more than $3.6 million and holding about $2.9 million in cash at the end of the last reporting period, according to Federal Elections Commission records. Howze has raised less than $400,000 through the same time period and borrowed about $600,000 from Howze’s personal finances. He has about $172,000 in cash on hand.
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 12:35 PM with the headline "GOP wants to reclaim California seats. Here’s why it’s spending heavily in Fresno."
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