Hispanic air war heats up

Hispanic voters are set to be bombarded by political TV commercials as Hillary Clinton and multiple other political groups debut new ads. 

On Wednesday morning alone, four separate groups, three liberal and one conservative, released new spots designed to target Hispanics in presidential battlegrounds states.

{mosads}Most of the new ads will hammer Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, over past statements in which he described Mexican illegal immigrants as rapists and drug dealers.

Priorities USA, the main super PAC backing Clinton, the Democratic nominee, released its first Spanish-language TV ad of the campaign, which replays some of Trump’s most controversial comments about Mexicans.

“Donald Trump wants to build a wall around our country, tear families apart with a deportation force and kicked off his campaign by calling Hispanics criminals and rapists,” Anne Caprara, executive director at Priorities USA, said in a statement accompanying the new ad.  

“That’s not what America stands for, and that’s why it’s so important to get out and vote so Donald Trump never becomes our president.”

The ad, titled “What We Stand For,” opens with an image of the Statue of Liberty — perhaps the most powerful and easily understood symbol of America’s historical openness to immigrants — and cuts immediately to footage of Trump saying, “We’re going to build the wall.”

It’s part of a “multimillion-dollar buy” that will start in Colorado and Nevada and will launch next week in Florida, Priorities USA said in a statement. 

The ad is part of a partnership between the pro-Clinton super PAC and the groups Latino Victory Project in Nevada and El Super Pac Voto Latino in Florida.

Amplifying the political action committee’s targeting, which is backed by several million dollars already booked in radio and digital ads, are new Spanish-language ads released by the Clinton campaign on Wednesday. 

Similar to the super PAC ad, the Clinton campaign ads portray Trump as a dark and sinister force, hostile to Hispanics living in the United States.

Using Trump to smear other Republicans appears to be a major strategy being used by Democrats competing in competitive Senate races. 

In Nevada, the main super PAC supporting Senate Democrats has launched a new ad tying Rep. Joe Heck — the Republican candidate competing for the open Senate seat of retiring Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid — to Trump.

Propping up the Republican side of the Hispanic advertising ledger is the Libre Initiative, a Hispanic-focused group that belongs to the powerful donor network helmed by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.

Brian Faughnan, the communications director for Libre, told The Hill on Wednesday that for the first time ever, the group will  run ads telling Latinos to vote for a particular candidate. 

The new ads will run in targeted Florida markets to help Republican Sen. Marco Rubio in his race against Democrat challenger Rep. Patrick Murphy.

The Libre ads will run on TV in English and digitally in both English and Spanish, Faughnan said. He did not say how much in total the group would be spending.

“Marco Rubio has been a leader in the Senate on issues that help Latinos toward prosperity,” said Daniel Garza, executive director of the Libre Initiative, in a statement.

“He’s worked to cut wasteful spending, hold the line on taxes, and prevent taxpayer bailouts of insurance companies. He has engaged with the Hispanic community throughout the state, listening to the concerns of the people, and making sure the federal government is listening as well.”