NRA Targets Montana Senate Race With 7-Figure Ad Buy

[DougC]

Read more at Truth about Guns. Seems like money well spent where it could make a difference in which party controls the US Senate.

In its first television ad buy of the 2024 election cycle, the National Rifle Association (NRA) is targeting a Democrat U.S. senator from Montana with a $2 million advertising campaign.

According to a Fox News report, the gun-rights organization is running the 30-second ad in an attempt to unseat Sen. John Tester, who has held the seat since 2006. A recent AARP poll actually shows Tester currently trailing Republican Tim Sheehy, a combat veteran running for office for the first time, among likely voters by a 51-to-45% margin in the race that is critical in determining which party will hold the Senate majority moving forward.

 

[DougC]

From NPR interview with journalist from the pro-2A blog The Reload. I have cited this blog many times on this forum. Read or listen to 5 min interview.

Stephen Gutowski covers firearm policy and gun ownership for his publication, The Reload. Welcome to the program.

GUTOWSKI: I would say it's not as powerful as it was at its peak in 2016 or 2018. This corruption scandal has really taken a lot of wind out of their sales. They've lost over a million members, and their revenue is way down from what it used to be.

Interviewer: In 2020, the NRA spent more than $29 million on the general election, according to opensecrets.org. But you reported last week that it just had its first major ad buy of the 2024 season, and that's $2 million for a TV ad against Montana Democrat Senator Jon Tester. How is the NRA spending its money now that it has less money to spend?

GUTOWSKI: Yeah, clearly, that Montana race is going to be one of their key races. They aren't going to be able to spend nearly as much as they did in 2020. And frankly, that was down significantly from what they spent in 2016.