Val Demings (D-Fla.) are all continuing to run ads during the storm, though Demings, who is challenging Rubio, pulled advertisements from the Tampa and Fort Myers markets where the storm is expected to cause the most damage.
“I think campaigns should shift to helping what will be hundreds of thousands of Floridians that will need a lot of assistance,” said former Florida Republican Gov.Steve Vancore, a pollster and long-time campaign consultant who has worked for Democrats and non-partisan candidates, said campaigns continuing to push ads during a major natural disaster speaks to the evolving nature of politics.The Republican Party of Florida ran ads trashing Democratic nominee Andrew Gillum even as Hurricane Michael bore down on the state, while a super PAC aired ads going after Republican Rick Scott, who was challenging incumbent Democrat Sen.
The Republican Party eventually paused the ads in areas directly affected by the storm|
An analysis from the advertising campaign tracking group AdImpact showed that, so far, only the campaign for Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody and the Florida Democratic Party have cut back on ad spending this week.The ads funded by the Democratic Party were promoting Charlie Crist, who is challenging DeSantis.Crist’s campaign announced on Monday that it planned to suspend ads in media markets potentially impacted by the looming storm, including Tampa and Fort Myers, but that they would continue to air ads in the Democratic-heavy region of South Florida — even though that area had been hit by hurricane-spawned tornadoes.
“This is not the time to go off the air,” said a Florida Democratic consultant who was granted anonymity to speak freely.Charlie Crist speaks during a campaign stop at the E Pat Larkins Community Center on Sept.
President Joe Biden also postponed a Tuesday trip to Florida, where he was scheduled to campaign with Crist.Scott, who is in charge of the campaign arm of Senate Republicans, has also been on cable television discussing the storm
Despite Demings’ campaign for Senate pulling ads in areas in the storm’s projected path, it remained aggressive in other parts of the state, including launching a new Spanish-language ad in the Miami market that includes criticism of Rubio’s attendance record in CongressHer campaign also launched radio ads in Orlando, which is expected to get hit by the storm in the next day
Abby Finkenauer (D-Iowa) after she filmed a campaign commercial at a storm recovery event just days after a windstorm knocked out power and damaged homes and farms