The National Rifle Association’s political arm is pumping a seven-figure ad buy into the toss-up Ohio Senate race to boost Republican nominee Bernie Moreno.
A new ad released Tuesday by the NRA Political Victory Fund targets Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) on gun control measures and crime, a prominent policy matter on the campaign trail in the final weeks before the November elections.
The 30-second spot will run from Tuesday through Election Day statewide on satellite and cable networks, along with a shorter 15-second version that will air on streaming services. The ad’s narrators, which include three women in an apparent appeal to suburban female voters concerned about public safety, urge voters in the Buckeye State to “vote like your life depends on it because it might.”
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“When seconds count, the police are minutes away,” the women say. “Soft-on-crime politicians like Sherrod Brown turn their back on law enforcement and refuse to protect our rights to self-defense, even putting anti-gun judges on the bench.”
The Brown campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
It’s the second significant ad campaign by the NRA this cycle. The first targeted Senate Democrats’ most vulnerable member, Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT). Last month, the NRA launched a $2 million ad campaign against Tester to prop up GOP challenger and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy.
Moreno, a Cleveland-based owner of a car dealership, is endorsed by the NRA and has an “A” rating from the gun rights group. Brown has an “F” from the NRA.
Randy Kozuch, chairman of the NRA-PVF, said in a statement that Brown and Vice President Kamala Harris would “work to gut the 2nd Amendment.” He cited their advocacy for gun control measures such as expanded federal background checks and reinstating an assault weapons ban.
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Doug Hamlin, NRA CEO and executive vice president, said the organization will be “strategically targeting key states” to support former President Donald Trump and to “elect pro-freedom candidates up and down the ballot.”
The battleground Senate contest is a “toss-up” that could determine party control of the chamber, where Democrats are fighting to keep their one-seat majority. Brown maintains a slight edge in polling, but Moreno has slowly narrowed the gap in recent months.