Buttigieg unveils first statewide television ad in Nevada

Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign released its first statewide television ad in Nevada as the South Bend, Ind., mayor seeks to gin up support in a key caucus state.

Buttigieg unveiled a new 30-second television ad, as well as his first Spanish radio and digital ads, in what his campaign said was a “significant media buy” in the Silver State, which has a heavily Hispanic primary electorate and is one of the early states to vote in the Democratic nomination race.

Buttigieg hits on common themes from his campaign in the television ad, highlighting his service in Afghanistan and criticizing “corporate greed.” 

“Serving in Afghanistan, we had to be united in our mission. After corporate greed ripped apart the Rust Belt, my city had to find a way forward. Whenever I visit Nevada, I hear the frustration with politics so broken for so long,” Buttigieg says in the ad, dubbed “Had To.”

“We keep sending politicians to Washington to fight for us, but then when they get there, they seem more interested in the part about fighting, than the part about us. I’m Pete Buttigieg, and I approve this message, to insist we tackle our challenges together, because we have to.”

The radio and digital ad, named “Primer Día Sin Trump,” or “First day without Trump,” will run statewide on YouTube and Spotify and on select radio stations in Las Vegas and underscores how Buttigieg would govern in the White House after President Trump leaves office.

“I want you to picture the first day after the Donald Trump presidency. This particular brand of chaos and corruption will be over. … But these big issues, from the economy to health care, will not have disappeared,” he says. “I’m running to be the president who will turn the page and unify our very polarized country while tackling the issues that are going to be just as urgent then as they are now.”

The ads come as Buttigieg works to break out of the middle tier in polls of Nevada.

His campaign has worked to improve his standing among Hispanic voters, unveiling Monday a plan that would, among other things, create a path to citizenship for roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants and establish a fund for underrepresented entrepreneurs and increase investment in Latino-owned businesses.

Buttigieg’s camp also touted its infrastructure in Nevada, where it has 10 offices, 55 staffers and “a growing army of volunteers.”