Koch Latino group launches campaign to support Barrett SCOTUS nomination

The Libre Initiative, a Latino conservative advocacy group within billionaire mega-donor Charles Koch’s political network, on Thursday launched a multistate campaign asking senators to support Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.

The campaign is targeted at senators who will vote on Barrett’s nomination, mainly in battleground states with significant Hispanic populations.

“We commend President Donald Trump for selecting Amy Coney Barrett — a judge with extensive experience, qualified credentials, and who will defend the Constitution. Now more than ever we need a jurist who will decide each case based on the U.S. Constitution and the law — and not issue ruling based on his or her personal agenda,” said Daniel Garza, president of the Libre Initiative.

The campaign will feature digital ads in Georgia, North Carolina, Colorado, Arizona, Texas, Utah, Florida, Virginia, Ohio, New Mexico, Michigan and Nevada.

Barrett was nominated by Trump to the court shortly after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, detonating partisan bickering over the norms surrounding election-year high court nominations.

Democrats are frustrated that the nomination, likely to sail through the GOP-controlled Senate, comes later in the 2020 electoral process than President Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland in 2016, which was blocked by Republicans who argued it came too close to an election.

Republicans who held the Senate majority during the Garland fight, say this time is different because Trump is also a Republican.

The nomination could shake up various Senate races, although it has not so far compromised support for Barrett from vulnerable GOP senators.

Hispanic voters will play a significant role in Senate elections in states like Arizona and Colorado, with relatively large Hispanic populations, but could also move the needle in places with smaller Latino populations and close races, like North Carolina and Georgia.

Barrett, a conservative Catholic, could appeal to Latino voters who skew toward the right on social issues.

Left-leaning Latino advocates have come out against Barrett, criticizing her positions on the Affordable Care Act and some elements of affirmative action.

But Libre’s ad blitz aims to encourage senators to support the nomination and participate in Senate hearings, focusing on Barrett’s originalist judicial philosophy.

“We look forward to the confirmation process where we will have an opportunity to directly hear from Amy Coney Barrett on how she intends to safeguard the Constitution while respecting that Congress was elected to legislate, not the courts,” said Garza.