Everytown, Democratic Senate group launch $4M ad blitz in Michigan, Pennsylvania

Everytown for Gun Safety and the Senate Majority PAC launched a $4 million media campaign Wednesday across Michigan and Pennsylvania targeting Senate Republican candidates Mike Rogers and David McCormick, respectively, over their stances on gun safety laws and abortion bans.

“From saying they supported national abortion bans to their opposition to common sense gun safety laws, Mike Rogers and Dave McCormick are too extreme to represent the people of Michigan and Pennsylvania,” said JB Poersch, Senate Majority PAC president. 

The two video ads focus on the candidates separately urging voters to reflect “MAGA Republicans’ opposition” to “common sense” laws.

“Mike Rogers wants to rip away abortion rights, and in Congress he sponsored four bills to ban abortion with no exceptions for rape or to save a woman’s life,” the Michigan ad’s narrator says. “And Rogers voted against common sense gun safety laws again and again, opposing background checks and making it easier for violent criminals to get guns.”

The voiceover concludes by calling Rogers, who was part of Michigan’s House delegation from 2001-15, “the most extreme senator Michigan has ever seen.”

The Pennsylvania blitz features interview clips where McCormick, who served in George W. Bush’s administration, tells viewers he’s “pro-life.” The narrator adds that he is “fully against abortion, with no exceptions for rape or incest” followed by comments that say McCormick is “against any gun safety law — even those that keep guns away from violent criminals.”

Both candidates were endorsed by former President Trump and are trailing their Democratic opponents in critical battleground states. Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin is leading by 38 percentage points in Michigan’s first open Senate race for this seat since 1994, according to The Hill’s internal polling site, Decision Desk HQ.

However, the Pennsylvania Senate race has a much thinner margin, with Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey maintaining a 3.5-point lead over McCormick. These two races will be crucial in determining which party will hold the Senate’s majority.

“As we saw two years ago with the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, life-saving progress on gun safety requires a gun sense majority in the Senate,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “We’re proud to partner with Senate Majority PAC to ensure voters in Pennsylvania and Michigan know which Senate candidates are fighting to keep our schools, law enforcement and communities safe from gun violence — and which candidates are putting lives at risk by standing in the way.”

Over the past few months, Everytown has been targeting voters on campus at Michigan State University, Wayne State University and the University of Michigan, in addition to students at Drexel University, Temple University, the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pennsylvania under its $45 million electoral voter outreach program.