The first Latina elected to the U.S. Senate will face a barrage of negative ads on Spanish language TV and radio in Nevada as an outside group prepares to spend nearly $2 million on efforts to back her Republican challenger — a sizable investment in what’s expected to be the most influential electorate in November.
In spending plans first shared with NBC News, the conservative super PAC Club for Growth Action said it will paint Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto as soft-on-crime while boosting Republican Adam Laxalt in what’s become one of the tightest Senate races in the nation.
“So weak on crime, it’s dangerous,” the new ad declares.
The advertising campaign cuts into a Spanish language ad spending advantage Cortez Masto has held for months. Since the state’s June 14 primary, Cortez Masto and outside Democratic groups led by the Somos PAC have spent $2.7 million on Spanish-language ads, compared to $176,000 spent by Republicans.
Club for Growth expects to spend $10 million in Nevada in the general election — including the Spanish-language ads — more than the group has spent in any other battleground state, a spokesman said.
Latinos are expected to make up 20 percent of the voters who head to the polls on Nov. 8. NBC News reported Sunday that Democrats are seeing signs that Latinos will skip this year’s election, which could end up tilting the race in favor of Republican candidates. At the same time, many Latinos have negative views of Laxalt.
Club for Growth called the spending the “single largest investment in Hispanic media in the race by any Republican group.”
“Nevada has the most important Senate race in the country,” David McIntosh, Club for Growth Action’s president, said in a statement. “While Democrats have long taken the Hispanic vote for granted, it’s important to reach this audience and let them know where the candidates stand on the issues that matter like crime, inflation, and the economy.”
NBC News has reached out to Cortez Masto’s campaign for comment.
Marc Caputo contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
