Pro-Warren super PAC launches ad campaign ahead of Nevada caucuses

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is getting a last-minute boost of support for her presidential bid from a newly formed super PAC just days before the Nevada caucuses.

Persist PAC, which filed with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday, is working to gin up support for Warren in the Silver State with an advertising campaign there that will run on cable and digital platforms.

The 30-second clip, which will begin airing Wednesday, casts the Massachusetts senator as an ally for working class Americans.

“When you don’t grow up rich, you learn how to work. When you take on Wall Street, you know how to fight. When the system is broken, you step up to fix it,” says a female narrator.

“That’s why Obama picked her … to protect families and fix our broken system,” the ad continues, referring to Warren’s work heading up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

Persist PAC confirmed to The Hill that the ad buy exceeds $1 million.

The new group is headed by a quartet of progressive women who have advocated for a litany of liberal priorities. The super PAC’s board includes Denise Feriozzi, who worked for years at EMILY’s List, veteran women’s rights attorney Kristine Kippins, D.C.-based Democratic strategist Karin Johanson and Kim Rogers, who worked at a PAC dedicated to electing Democratic governors.

Warren has sought to distance herself from high-dollar donors throughout her presidential run, disavowing contributions from PACs and shirking private fundraisers. However, the campaign is unable to control the support of outside groups such as super PACs, which are prohibited by law from directly coordinating with political campaigns.

The Massachusetts lawmaker has made support from such groups an attack line on the campaign trail, calling out her primary opponents earlier this month for receiving help from super PACs.

“Everyone on this stage except Amy and me is either a billionaire or is receiving help from PACs that can do unlimited spending,” Warren said earlier this month at the New Hampshire debate, referring to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). “If you really want to live where you say, then put your money where your mouth is and say no to the PACs.” 

Since those remarks, Klobuchar also received the support of Kitchen Table Conversations PAC, a super PAC that is also seeking to boost her with its advertising campaign.

The creation of Persist PAC comes after disappointing third- and fourth-place finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire for Warren, which sparked uncertainty over her campaign’s viability.

Warren’s campaign is hoping to put up a strong showing in Nevada this weekend, but polls there show her trailing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden.