Democrats are spending $7 million on TV ads in five key Senate races

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Democrats plan to spend $7 million on television advertising in five Senate races they say are key to regaining control of the chamber, the largest ad buy in his kind that Democrats in the state have ever done in legislative races.

Wisconsin, a perennial swing state, is no stranger to big spending on high-profile races. But the money typically goes to the top statewide races, not to contests for the Legislature, where Republicans have had a strong majority for more than a decade.

For example, this one ad buy is almost half of the money Democrats spent on all legislative races in both the Senate and Assembly in the 2022 cycle. That year, legislative candidates and outside groups spent a total of just over $41 million on legislative races, with $17 million coming from Democrats, according to a tally by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

By comparison, Democrats and their allies spent nearly $88 million on Wisconsin’s 2022 gubernatorial race, part of the record-high $164 million spent on the contest won by Democrat Tony Evers.

“This speaks to the excitement we have and the confidence we have in our candidates,” said Andrew Whitley, executive director of the Senate Democratic Committee.

The purchase will focus on races in Milwaukee’s northern suburbs, rural areas north of Madison, the Fox Cities, Green Bay and La Crosse.

Republicans currently hold a 22-10 supermajority in the 33-seat Senate, but Democrats hope the new district boundaries signed by Governor Tony Evers in February will help them erase the GOP advantage.

Sixteen seats were added in the Senate in November, eight of which are currently in the hands of Republicans and four are open seats. Four Democrats are not up for re-election this cycle; this means that the Democrats must win thirteen seats in November to gain the majority. In a sign of how the new maps have energized the party, Democrats put a candidate on the ballot in every Senate race for the first time in more than two decades.

Democrats plan to run ads in the 8th Senate District, which includes Milwaukee’s conservative northern suburbs. The new maps pulled Republican Sen. Duey Stroebel from his old district and placed him in 8th place, where he would face Democrat Jodi Habush Sinykin.

Listings are also available in the revamped 14th District, which covers parts of Columbia, Marquette, Green Lake and Waupaca counties. Democrats Sarah Keyeski will face Republican incumbent Joan Ballweg there.

The commission will also focus on the 18th District, which now runs from Appleton south to Oshkosh along the western shore of Lake Winnebago. The seat is open, Democrats Kristin Alfheim and Joseph Carmen and Republicans Anthony Phillips and Blong Yang are all candidates.

Advertisements are also planned for the 30th District. That district covers the western shore of Green Bay Bay, from the city of Green Bay north to Marinette. The seat is open. Democrat Jamie Wall and Republican Jim Rafter are going for it.

The final district in the committee’s ad buy is the 32nd in western Wisconsin, where Republican Stacey Klein wants to dethrone Democratic incumbent Brad Pfaff.

Whitley said Democrats picked those districts because President Joe Biden and Gov. Tony Evers won them in 2020 and 2022, respectively, suggesting Democratic legislative candidates have a good chance of success there. The ads will be tailored to the issues in each district and will air after the Wisconsin primary on Aug. 13, he said.

Senate Republican Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said voters will see the ads as another attempt by liberals to buy control of government agencies.

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Associated Press writer Scott Bauer contributed to this report.

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