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Priorities USA
November 3, 2020
Throughout the 2020 election, Priorities USA led an unprecedented outside effort to boost Joe Biden’s campaign to the doorstep of victory through a combination of big spending, fresh thinking and smart strategy. We believe our unparalleled investments over the past four years, along with those of our partners, pushed the progressive movement forward in countless areas and prepared us to seize this moment together.
Here are some highlights of our team's work this cycle — and its tremendous impact up and down the ballot:
Prioirities USA
November 3, 2020
After four long years of Donald Trump’s failed leadership, the American people are ready to turn the page on his chaos and incompetence — and restore character and decency to the White House.
Priorities USA led an unprecedented outside effort to boost Joe Biden’s campaign to the doorstep of victory through a combination of big spending, fresh thinking and smart strategy. We believe our unparalleled investments over the past four years, along with those of our partners, pushed the progressive movement forward in countless areas and prepared us to seize this moment together.
Priorities was the largest independent spender in the presidential race — and we used that money to make smart investments that won the digital ad war.
In an election marked by historic fundraising numbers and massive expenditures by outside groups from both parties, Priorities USA led the field as the largest independent spender in the presidential race on either side. All told, we invested $153 million in television, radio and digital advertising, including $133 million across the core six battleground states.
But we didn’t just spend a ton of money using the same old political playbook — we questioned the conventional wisdom and made smart investments in innovative ideas that paid off big. In particular, we made an unprecedented commitment to our digital strategy, shifting a large portion of our spending away from traditional channels in an effort to meet voters where they are increasingly spending their time. As a result, a full 50% of our presidential ad spending happened online through a diverse mix of social, search and streaming platforms.
To make that possible, we built a best-in-class, digital-first team that brought all of our creative, targeting, buying and measurement work under one roof. By investing in our in-house talent, we were able to increase our impact — maximizing our resources and expanding digital infrastructure for the progressive movement writ large.
Priorities mapped the right path to victory from the start — and invested early to keep it clear throughout the primary.
At the onset of the 2020 cycle, Priorities identified a clear, strategic path to 270 electoral votes that focused on a defined, six-state battlefield: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. After two years and $133 million in concentrated ad spending by Priorities across these core presidential battlegrounds, those early decisions have been validated. Today, those states remain the most likely to decide the election and, therefore, represent Joe Biden’s best path to victory in the Electoral College.
Of course, that kind of wire-to-wire consistency didn’t just happen on its own. It was made possible by large-scale investments by Priorities to aggressively shape the narrative of this election on the most favorable possible terms for Democrats. That included making a massive early investment to put the president on defense during primary season, refusing to cede these crucial fall battlegrounds to Trump while the rest of our party (rightfully) focused on selecting a nominee. As part of this early effort, beginning in July 2019, Priorities single-handedly outspent the Trump campaign online in the core battlegrounds for more than a year — filling the spending gap and ensuring those key states remained competitive until the Biden campaign could successfully secure the nomination and turn their attention to the general election.
Priorities spent big to define Trump’s coronavirus failures — and the president never recovered.
There’s no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic fundamentally altered the trajectory of this race — and Priorities was there to meet the moment and hold Donald Trump accountable for his pandemic failures. We were the first outside group to go up on TV and digital platforms in battleground states telling the truth about his botched response to the virus. In fact, between late March and the end of May, Priorities USA alone outspent America First and the Trump campaign combined in battleground states in order to ensure that voters learned the truth about Trump’s disastrous mishandling of the pandemic.
And all those attacks produced measurable results. A digital experiment conducted during this timeframe revealed that our digital program alone increased Joe Biden’s statewide margin by 1.25 points and decreased Trump’s overall approval by 2.4 points on average between April and September. And perhaps unsurprisingly, while Trump’s approval rating on his handling of the pandemic was above water in battleground states when our onslaught began in March, with the help of a steady drumbeat of $69 million worth of ads on the issue from Priorities, it has dropped precipitously in our polling in the months since — and the president’s political prospects have never recovered.
Priorities led the charge on voting rights litigation — and won big victories for our democracy.
Donald Trump has openly cast doubt on election results and admitted that he is relying on the courts to hand him a victory, but voter suppression is far from a new phenomenon. That’s why Priorities has been leading the fight to protect every American’s voting rights since 2015 — and we took our litigation program to the next level in 2020.
When the coronavirus crisis hit, we knew we needed to overhaul our litigation strategy and moved to protect voting during the pandemic. Priorities quickly pivoted to fighting Republican efforts to exploit the pandemic and make voting even harder by forcing their constituents to choose between their health and their right to vote. We increased our litigation budget to over $34 million, identified four ways to reform state election laws to support vote-by-mail, and initiated 18 legal challenges in six states to institute these and other reforms — winning key victories in Arizona, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
Priorities partnered with allies to build progressive power — and put the Senate in play.
Of course, defeating Donald Trump and electing Democrats up and down the ticket isn’t a task one organization can accomplish on its own. That’s why Priorities has worked hard to develop deep partnerships and form strong alliances with organizations working in all corners of the progressive space.
Throughout the cycle, we forged meaningful partnerships with 119 national, state and local progressive organizations, allowing us to share learning, increase capacity and coordinate efforts across the movement. Our in-house team was able to coordinate $204 million of allied spending to better optimize our resource allocation and ensure we collectively covered the full map as efficiently as possible.
Priorities also formed a powerful partnership with Senate Majority PAC, with the two organizations quietly collaborating to spend $18.7 million on digital ad campaigns in three of the most crucial Senate races of the 2020 cycle — targeting Martha McSally in Arizona, Susan Collins in Maine and Thom Tillis in North Carolina.
Working hand in hand, Priorities and SMP were able to engage in these key states earlier than ever before, define each race on our terms and put the incumbents on defense from the jump. As a result, all three Republicans appear headed for defeat on Election Day — paving the way to a Democratic majority in 2021 and beyond.
Priorities USA Action
April 20, 2020
Priorities has single-handedly outspent Trump across key battleground states online and on television since July 2019 and is now expanding into more states and markets to ensure we’re giving Biden multiple paths to 270 electoral votes. The Trump campaign is currently suing a small TV station in Wisconsin for airing one of Priorities’ ads that holds Trump accountable for his failed coronavirus pandemic response.
Priorities has already reserved an initial $17 million in fall digital ads on YouTube, Hulu, VEVO, Univision, digital TV vendors like Roku, and digital radio vendors like Pandora and iHeart Radio, and will be adding more in the weeks to come. A large portion of Priorities’ future digital spending, including on Facebook, will be purchased with more flexibility via auction, not reservations, and is not included in these totals.
“The Trump campaign is sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars and his super PAC is already on air against Joe Biden. We won’t let our nominee face that alone. Priorities has been outspending Trump in key battleground states for nine months, and by placing $65 million in TV reservations, we are committing to take the fight to Trump through Election Day,” said Guy Cecil, Chairman of Priorities USA. “Trump is doing everything he can to spread misinformation and block voters from hearing the truth, and we are committed to using every resource available to us to hold him accountable and elect Joe Biden the 46th President of the United States.”
Once these have been placed, Priorities’ total future reservations through November 3rd are as follows:
Arizona: ~$6.5 million
Markets:
Phoenix
Tucson
Florida: ~$13 million
Markets:
Tampa
Orlando
West Palm Beach
Michigan: ~$17 million
Markets:
Detroit
Grand Rapids
Flint
Traverse City
North Carolina: ~$4.8 million
Markets:
Raleigh – Durham
Greensboro – Winston-Salem
Pennsylvania: ~$13 million
Markets:
Pittsburgh
Harrisburg – Lancaster – Lebanon – York
Wilkes-Barre – Scranton
Johnstown – Altoona
Wisconsin: ~$10.4 million
Markets:
Milwaukee
Green Bay
La Crosse – Eau Claire
Wausau – Rhinelander
Priorities USA Action
April 15, 2020
First and foremost, I hope this finds you and your family safe and healthy as we all deal with the impact of COVID-19.
Even in the midst of dealing with all of the recent challenges, Priorities USA has been hard at work and remains focused on defeating Donald Trump and electing Joe Biden. Just in the last three weeks we have formed two new partnerships, launched three television ads in battleground states, created 638 pieces of new creative content holding Trump accountable on his handling of the pandemic, and won two voting rights cases.
In a Wall Street Journal story out today, Joe Biden’s campaign affirmed the critical work that Priorities has been doing and the leadership role we are taking among a coalition of organizations that are focused on winning in November.
The Biden campaign said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal that Priorities USA “is an organization of proven effectiveness and the work they are doing to elect Joe Biden and defeat Donald Trump is absolutely critical.”
“As Democrats across the country come together to achieve this goal, we are pleased that Priorities USA will be a leader of an unprecedented and united community of organizations focused on winning in November,” the campaign said.
But we have a lot of work ahead of us taking on a well-funded opposition. President Trump and the RNC raised more than $212 million in the first quarter, including more than $63 million in March. The campaign and the RNC entered April with more than $240 million cash on hand and their Super PAC just announced $40 million in additional advertising starting this week. This financial power makes our efforts all the more necessary.
Priorities originally set a $100 million, then $150 million pre-convention budget when we expected the primary to run late into the calendar. Now that the general election has begun, we are realigning our budget and raising our goal to $200 million. Priorities has been holding Trump accountable in key states since last summer, and this expanded budget will allow us to continue to lead the fight to defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden.
We are already off to a strong start with over $126 million raised and committed to support our work. After raising $8 million in March across our three entities, we now have $110 million in the door and $16 million in new commitments.
We have a big challenge ahead of us, but we are going to do everything we can to elect Joe Biden. Now that he is our nominee, I wanted to update you on the expansion of our media program, the creation of a new Partner Advisory Council, our work to hold Trump accountable on his mishandling of the COVID-19 response, and an expansion of our voting rights initiative.
PRIORITIES USA EXPANDS FOR GENERAL ELECTION
Our fundraising success has allowed Priorities to outspend the Trump campaign online and on TV in key battleground states since last year.
We’ve also begun planning for the months ahead including the fall campaign. Priorities has already begun reserving advertising for the fall with an initial $17 million in digital ad reservations. This includes a robust campaign to educate, mobilize, and turn out voters in our battleground states.
With Donald Trump’s PAC going on the air next week and making millions of dollars in reservations this fall, we are preparing to make fall television reservations next week.
ANNOUNCES NEW PARTNERSHIPS AND PARTNERSHIP ADVISORY COUNCIL
As part of the transition to the general election, Priorities USA is launching a Partnership Advisory Council and has recently announced several new critical partnerships for general election programs:
In recent weeks, Priorities USA Action launched an initial $6.6 million television and digital campaign across Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Arizona to ensure that voters hear the truth about the coronavirus epidemic as Trump spews falsehoods from the White House briefing room on a daily basis. We have now spent more than $8 million on this effort and are continuing to extend it.
The first three TV ads on Trump’s coronavirus response, “Exponential Threat,” “Better Prepared,” and “Front Lines,” use Trump’s own words to show that he downplayed the epidemic even as the number of infected Americans skyrocketed, and refused to help doctors on the front lines with urgently needed equipment. The Trump campaign has threatened TV stations with baseless cease and desist letters in a failed effort to prevent this from being seen by millions of voters in battleground states. The Trump campaign even sued one small Wisconsin TV station, showing just how far they are willing to go to intimidate TV stations into not airing ads critical of the president.
We’ve also released scores of digital content which are being displayed on voters’ screens across battleground states holding Trump accountable for failing to respond effectively to the pandemic:
EXPANDING VOTING RIGHTS LITIGATION PROGRAM
The Priorities USA Foundation and Priorities USA has increased our voting rights budget by $2 million as we continue to take on attempts to erect unnecessary barriers to voting across the country. This includes challenging state laws that disenfranchise marginalized communities who already face unique challenges exercising their right to vote, especially during this national health crisis.
In April, we secured two big legal victories in Florida and New Hampshire bringing our current count of litigation victories to 11. In Florida, the Foundation announced that a settlement had been reached on a 2019 lawsuit which allowed college and universities campuses to host early vote locations.
In New Hampshire, the North District Court struck down State Senate Bill 3 (SB3) which created unconstitutional barriers to voting such as a proof of residency requirement in order to register to vote. We proved in court that the law also unreasonably burdened people attempting to vote and violated their equal protection rights.
In the coming weeks, we expect to file several more legal challenges to ensure that Americans can exercise their right to vote, whether by mail or safely in person in November.
Priorities USA Action
April 14, 2020
As the coronavirus threatens the well-being of hundreds of thousands of American communities, Donald Trump continues to lie to protect his own political agenda. While doctors and nurses plead for masks and ventilators, President Trump has refused to take adequate action, questioned the need for more critical supplies and even suggested medical professionals are stealing supplies.
The new ad, Front Lines, contrasts Trump’s statements with news clips of doctors and nurses who are putting their lives at risk battling the virus on the front lines.
The ad will be running on cable and broadcast in FL, MI, PA and WI as part of the $70 million of paid media reservations Priorities placed for the period prior to the convention. Priorities has already spent more than $7.5 million on TV and digital ads related to President Trump’s failed response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump campaign has repeatedly attempted to bully TV stations into not running Priorities’ ads, even going so far as to sue a local station in Wisconsin.
“In this time of crisis, we need to listen to our medical professionals and ensure they have the resources they need to keep them safe while they keep us safe. Unfortunately, Donald Trump is more concerned with deflecting blame and protecting his own political standing than taking the necessary steps to protect our country,” said Guy Cecil, Chairman of Priorities USA. “We need a leader who is trustworthy, decisive, and puts the needs of the American people first. Donald Trump is simply not up to the task. We will not let Trump dictate the narrative and will continue to air the facts and the truth and hold the president accountable.”
Priorities USA Action
April 13, 2020
“This is pretty simple. Donald Trump doesn’t want voters to hear the truth and he’s trying to bully TV stations into submission. The truth is that Trump ignored warnings from experts and his own team and downplayed the coronavirus even as it spread unchecked across the country and the world. Americans are now suffering as a result of his inaction. We will never stop airing the facts and holding the president accountable for his actions.”
Here are a few examples of the widespread news coverage of Trump downplaying the virus:
CBS News: Trump Says Coronavirus “Will Go Away” And Urges Americans To “Just Stay Calm”
New York Times: A Complete List of Trump’s Attempts to Play Down Coronavirus
Politico: Trump Rallies His Base To Treat Coronavirus As A “Hoax”
CNBC: Trump dismissed coronavirus pandemic worry in January — now claims he long warned about it
CNN: Fact check: Trump tries to erase the memory of him downplaying the coronavirus
Vox: Trump spent weeks downplaying the coronavirus. He’s now pretending that never happened.
Vox: “I don’t take responsibility at all”: Trump continues downplaying coronavirus threat
NPR: President Trump Has Consistently Downplayed Threat Of Coronavirus
Washington Post: Inside Trump’s Frantic Attempts To Minimize The Coronavirus Crisis
CNN: Fact check: White House falsely claims the coronavirus has been ‘contained’ in the US
New York Times: The President Vs. The Experts: How Trump Played Down The Coronavirus
Business Insider: Public health experts warn Trump’s history of lying about crises is a ‘real problem’ as he downplays coronavirus and contradicts the CDC
Priorites USA Action
April 8, 2020
Priorities USA Action
April 1, 2020
As an initial step, Priorities is adding an additional $1 million of ad time and extending by a week in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Priorities is also adding more digital ad time across these battleground states and Florida. Priorities is already running a contrast spot, “Steady Leadership,” online.
“Trump is failing the country as a leader during the biggest crisis of our lives. It has always been inevitable that the Trump team would attempt to cover up his dangerous incompetence by attacking Joe Biden,” said Guy Cecil, Chairman of Priorities USA. “With Donald Trump’s super PAC stepping into this race, we will not let Vice President Biden go undefended. We will do whatever we can to both hold Trump accountable during this time of crisis and help Joe Biden get elected in November.”
Priorities USA Action
March 23, 2020
Trump’s response to the crisis has been nothing short of a failure. Not only did he waste months and squander numerous opportunities to mitigate the risk to the American people, he continues to lie constantly and fail to act in the best interest of the country. It is imperative that voters know the truth about Trump’s failures so they can continue to hold their government accountable in this time of crisis.
The first TV ad, “Exponential Threat,” is inspired by an ad created by the group Fellow Americans, and highlights Trump’s repeated comments downplaying the virus and shirking responsibility as the number of infections in America increased exponentially. Trump knew early on the extreme danger posed by the coronavirus to the American people, but he intentionally lied about it in order to serve his own short-term political goals.
“Exponential Threat” will begin running in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on Tuesday and is part of a $6 million TV and digital buy across the four states. The buy may expand to more states at a later date.
Priorities is also releasing a second TV ad, “Better Prepared,” which highlights how Joe Biden’s wealth of experience and good judgment position him as a more effective, trustworthy leader for our country in moments of crisis. While Trump lies constantly and refuses to heed the advice of his advisors, Biden will lead with science, listen to experts and always tell the American people the truth — even when it’s hard.
Additionally, Priorities is releasing two digital ads that will begin running on Tuesday across a variety of online platforms like Facebook and streaming TV. These ads — “Map” and “Steady Leadership” — feature similar themes as their longer TV counterparts, emphasizing Trump’s refusal to adequately prepare the country for the coming crisis and how Biden’s steady hand would provide a significant departure from the chaos currently enveloping our government, respectively. Since last week, Priorities has also been promoting news content to voters in critical battleground states to keep them informed about Trump’s failure to respond effectively to the mounting crisis.
“From the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, Donald Trump has repeatedly misled the American people and exposed us to unnecessary danger. His failure to lead continues to have real life and death consequences as hospitals, local and state governments, small businesses, and millions of Americans are left without the tools and information they need,” said Priorities USA Chairman Guy Cecil. “Tens of thousands of people are sick, hundreds have already died, and millions are losing their jobs. We simply cannot allow Donald Trump to continue to lie and spread misinformation unchecked. The American people deserve the truth about their president.”
Priorities USA Action
February 25, 2020
The ads focus on the real negative impact that Trump’s policies, chaos, impulsiveness, and arrogance are having on people’s lives.
These themes are front and center in the first ad, ‘Whatever I Want,’ which directly ties Trump’s chaotic and impulsive governing style to the government shutdown, rising health care costs, proposed Medicare cuts to pay for corporate tax cuts and foreign policy failures.
‘Whatever I Want’
WATCH HERE
The second ad features Amy, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017. If President Trump had his way, insurance companies would once again be able to discriminate against her for her pre-existing condition. Trump and his Republican allies in Congress are attempting to gut protections for people like Amy, jeopardizing health care for over 130 million Americans who live with a pre-existing condition.
‘Amy’
WATCH HERE
Priorities has outspent Trump online in key states since July 2019, and is continuing to counter the Trump campaign on all fronts, launching a new wave of digital ads in Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin earlier this month.
“We may not know who the Democratic nominee will be, but the general election has already begun,” said Guy Cecil, Chairman of Priorities USA and Priorities USA Action. “We’re taking the fight to Trump now, because it is imperative that Democrats communicate with voters early and hold him accountable for the ways in which his actions and policies are hurting millions of people across the country. Trump’s chaotic and impulsive presidency means more than just an ever-changing cable news cycle — it has a very real and damaging effect on the lives of millions of Americans who can’t afford Trump’s attacks on Medicare and affordable health care.”
Watch Guy Cecil discuss the new TV ads on Rachel Maddow HERE.
Priorities USA has already reserved $70 million for television and digital advertising. The organization will spend about $40 million on digital video and audio platforms such as Youtube, Hulu, and Pandora in addition to about $30 million spent on TV advertising.
“For too long, political organizations have perpetuated a false choice between investing online or on television. Our job is to reach voters regardless of which screen they’re watching. As we invest heavily in communicating this critical message, we’re excited to be integrating television and digital into one strategy,” said Danielle Butterfield, Director of Paid Media for Priorities USA and Priorities USA Action.
Priorities USA
November 3, 2020
Priorities USA's 2020 by the numbers
Our team has
been busy this cycle — and the
numbers don’t lie.
Throughout the 2020 election, Priorities USA led an unprecedented outside effort to boost Joe Biden’s campaign to the doorstep of victory through a combination of big spending, fresh thinking and smart strategy. We believe our unparalleled investments over the past four years, along with those of our partners, pushed the progressive movement forward in countless areas and prepared us to seize this moment together.
Here are some highlights of our team's work this cycle — and its tremendous impact up and down the ballot:
Prioirities USA
November 3, 2020
Priorities USA led the charge against Trump and his allies
We raised $258 million to power Democrats to the verge of victory up and down the ballot.After four long years of Donald Trump’s failed leadership, the American people are ready to turn the page on his chaos and incompetence — and restore character and decency to the White House.
Priorities USA led an unprecedented outside effort to boost Joe Biden’s campaign to the doorstep of victory through a combination of big spending, fresh thinking and smart strategy. We believe our unparalleled investments over the past four years, along with those of our partners, pushed the progressive movement forward in countless areas and prepared us to seize this moment together.
Priorities was the largest independent spender in the presidential race — and we used that money to make smart investments that won the digital ad war.
In an election marked by historic fundraising numbers and massive expenditures by outside groups from both parties, Priorities USA led the field as the largest independent spender in the presidential race on either side. All told, we invested $153 million in television, radio and digital advertising, including $133 million across the core six battleground states.
But we didn’t just spend a ton of money using the same old political playbook — we questioned the conventional wisdom and made smart investments in innovative ideas that paid off big. In particular, we made an unprecedented commitment to our digital strategy, shifting a large portion of our spending away from traditional channels in an effort to meet voters where they are increasingly spending their time. As a result, a full 50% of our presidential ad spending happened online through a diverse mix of social, search and streaming platforms.
To make that possible, we built a best-in-class, digital-first team that brought all of our creative, targeting, buying and measurement work under one roof. By investing in our in-house talent, we were able to increase our impact — maximizing our resources and expanding digital infrastructure for the progressive movement writ large.
Priorities mapped the right path to victory from the start — and invested early to keep it clear throughout the primary.
At the onset of the 2020 cycle, Priorities identified a clear, strategic path to 270 electoral votes that focused on a defined, six-state battlefield: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. After two years and $133 million in concentrated ad spending by Priorities across these core presidential battlegrounds, those early decisions have been validated. Today, those states remain the most likely to decide the election and, therefore, represent Joe Biden’s best path to victory in the Electoral College.
Of course, that kind of wire-to-wire consistency didn’t just happen on its own. It was made possible by large-scale investments by Priorities to aggressively shape the narrative of this election on the most favorable possible terms for Democrats. That included making a massive early investment to put the president on defense during primary season, refusing to cede these crucial fall battlegrounds to Trump while the rest of our party (rightfully) focused on selecting a nominee. As part of this early effort, beginning in July 2019, Priorities single-handedly outspent the Trump campaign online in the core battlegrounds for more than a year — filling the spending gap and ensuring those key states remained competitive until the Biden campaign could successfully secure the nomination and turn their attention to the general election.
Priorities spent big to define Trump’s coronavirus failures — and the president never recovered.
There’s no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic fundamentally altered the trajectory of this race — and Priorities was there to meet the moment and hold Donald Trump accountable for his pandemic failures. We were the first outside group to go up on TV and digital platforms in battleground states telling the truth about his botched response to the virus. In fact, between late March and the end of May, Priorities USA alone outspent America First and the Trump campaign combined in battleground states in order to ensure that voters learned the truth about Trump’s disastrous mishandling of the pandemic.
And all those attacks produced measurable results. A digital experiment conducted during this timeframe revealed that our digital program alone increased Joe Biden’s statewide margin by 1.25 points and decreased Trump’s overall approval by 2.4 points on average between April and September. And perhaps unsurprisingly, while Trump’s approval rating on his handling of the pandemic was above water in battleground states when our onslaught began in March, with the help of a steady drumbeat of $69 million worth of ads on the issue from Priorities, it has dropped precipitously in our polling in the months since — and the president’s political prospects have never recovered.
Priorities led the charge on voting rights litigation — and won big victories for our democracy.
Donald Trump has openly cast doubt on election results and admitted that he is relying on the courts to hand him a victory, but voter suppression is far from a new phenomenon. That’s why Priorities has been leading the fight to protect every American’s voting rights since 2015 — and we took our litigation program to the next level in 2020.
When the coronavirus crisis hit, we knew we needed to overhaul our litigation strategy and moved to protect voting during the pandemic. Priorities quickly pivoted to fighting Republican efforts to exploit the pandemic and make voting even harder by forcing their constituents to choose between their health and their right to vote. We increased our litigation budget to over $34 million, identified four ways to reform state election laws to support vote-by-mail, and initiated 18 legal challenges in six states to institute these and other reforms — winning key victories in Arizona, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
Priorities partnered with allies to build progressive power — and put the Senate in play.
Of course, defeating Donald Trump and electing Democrats up and down the ticket isn’t a task one organization can accomplish on its own. That’s why Priorities has worked hard to develop deep partnerships and form strong alliances with organizations working in all corners of the progressive space.
Throughout the cycle, we forged meaningful partnerships with 119 national, state and local progressive organizations, allowing us to share learning, increase capacity and coordinate efforts across the movement. Our in-house team was able to coordinate $204 million of allied spending to better optimize our resource allocation and ensure we collectively covered the full map as efficiently as possible.
Priorities also formed a powerful partnership with Senate Majority PAC, with the two organizations quietly collaborating to spend $18.7 million on digital ad campaigns in three of the most crucial Senate races of the 2020 cycle — targeting Martha McSally in Arizona, Susan Collins in Maine and Thom Tillis in North Carolina.
Working hand in hand, Priorities and SMP were able to engage in these key states earlier than ever before, define each race on our terms and put the incumbents on defense from the jump. As a result, all three Republicans appear headed for defeat on Election Day — paving the way to a Democratic majority in 2021 and beyond.
Priorities USA Action
April 20, 2020
Priorities USA Action Places $65 Million in TV Reservations Through November
Priorities USA Action is beginning to place $64.7 million in TV reservations today across six key battleground states through Election Day. Initially, Priorities had made reservations through July, when the Democratic National Convention was originally scheduled to be held. Now that the primary has ended early and Vice President Joe Biden is the presumptive Democratic nominee, Priorities is moving on from its primary plans and into full general election mode. These reservations come as Priorities has expanded its 2020 cycle budget to $200 million.Priorities has single-handedly outspent Trump across key battleground states online and on television since July 2019 and is now expanding into more states and markets to ensure we’re giving Biden multiple paths to 270 electoral votes. The Trump campaign is currently suing a small TV station in Wisconsin for airing one of Priorities’ ads that holds Trump accountable for his failed coronavirus pandemic response.
Priorities has already reserved an initial $17 million in fall digital ads on YouTube, Hulu, VEVO, Univision, digital TV vendors like Roku, and digital radio vendors like Pandora and iHeart Radio, and will be adding more in the weeks to come. A large portion of Priorities’ future digital spending, including on Facebook, will be purchased with more flexibility via auction, not reservations, and is not included in these totals.
“The Trump campaign is sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars and his super PAC is already on air against Joe Biden. We won’t let our nominee face that alone. Priorities has been outspending Trump in key battleground states for nine months, and by placing $65 million in TV reservations, we are committing to take the fight to Trump through Election Day,” said Guy Cecil, Chairman of Priorities USA. “Trump is doing everything he can to spread misinformation and block voters from hearing the truth, and we are committed to using every resource available to us to hold him accountable and elect Joe Biden the 46th President of the United States.”
Once these have been placed, Priorities’ total future reservations through November 3rd are as follows:
Arizona: ~$6.5 million
Markets:
Phoenix
Tucson
Florida: ~$13 million
Markets:
Tampa
Orlando
West Palm Beach
Michigan: ~$17 million
Markets:
Detroit
Grand Rapids
Flint
Traverse City
North Carolina: ~$4.8 million
Markets:
Raleigh – Durham
Greensboro – Winston-Salem
Pennsylvania: ~$13 million
Markets:
Pittsburgh
Harrisburg – Lancaster – Lebanon – York
Wilkes-Barre – Scranton
Johnstown – Altoona
Wisconsin: ~$10.4 million
Markets:
Milwaukee
Green Bay
La Crosse – Eau Claire
Wausau – Rhinelander
Priorities USA Action
April 15, 2020
MEMO: Strong Fundraising and New Partnerships Fuel Priorities USA General Election Expansion
By Guy
Cecil, Chairman of Priorities USA
First and foremost, I hope this finds you and your family safe and healthy as we all deal with the impact of COVID-19.
Even in the midst of dealing with all of the recent challenges, Priorities USA has been hard at work and remains focused on defeating Donald Trump and electing Joe Biden. Just in the last three weeks we have formed two new partnerships, launched three television ads in battleground states, created 638 pieces of new creative content holding Trump accountable on his handling of the pandemic, and won two voting rights cases.
In a Wall Street Journal story out today, Joe Biden’s campaign affirmed the critical work that Priorities has been doing and the leadership role we are taking among a coalition of organizations that are focused on winning in November.
The Biden campaign said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal that Priorities USA “is an organization of proven effectiveness and the work they are doing to elect Joe Biden and defeat Donald Trump is absolutely critical.”
“As Democrats across the country come together to achieve this goal, we are pleased that Priorities USA will be a leader of an unprecedented and united community of organizations focused on winning in November,” the campaign said.
But we have a lot of work ahead of us taking on a well-funded opposition. President Trump and the RNC raised more than $212 million in the first quarter, including more than $63 million in March. The campaign and the RNC entered April with more than $240 million cash on hand and their Super PAC just announced $40 million in additional advertising starting this week. This financial power makes our efforts all the more necessary.
Priorities originally set a $100 million, then $150 million pre-convention budget when we expected the primary to run late into the calendar. Now that the general election has begun, we are realigning our budget and raising our goal to $200 million. Priorities has been holding Trump accountable in key states since last summer, and this expanded budget will allow us to continue to lead the fight to defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden.
We are already off to a strong start with over $126 million raised and committed to support our work. After raising $8 million in March across our three entities, we now have $110 million in the door and $16 million in new commitments.
We have a big challenge ahead of us, but we are going to do everything we can to elect Joe Biden. Now that he is our nominee, I wanted to update you on the expansion of our media program, the creation of a new Partner Advisory Council, our work to hold Trump accountable on his mishandling of the COVID-19 response, and an expansion of our voting rights initiative.
PRIORITIES USA EXPANDS FOR GENERAL ELECTION
Our fundraising success has allowed Priorities to outspend the Trump campaign online and on TV in key battleground states since last year.
We’ve also begun planning for the months ahead including the fall campaign. Priorities has already begun reserving advertising for the fall with an initial $17 million in digital ad reservations. This includes a robust campaign to educate, mobilize, and turn out voters in our battleground states.
With Donald Trump’s PAC going on the air next week and making millions of dollars in reservations this fall, we are preparing to make fall television reservations next week.
ANNOUNCES NEW PARTNERSHIPS AND PARTNERSHIP ADVISORY COUNCIL
As part of the transition to the general election, Priorities USA is launching a Partnership Advisory Council and has recently announced several new critical partnerships for general election programs:
- We are working with Color of Change PAC on a $3 million digital ad campaign targeted towards Black voters who are considering voting for Donald Trump or a third party candidate.
- We are working with League of Conservation Voters PAC on the digital component of a $14 million ad campaign targeting swing voters in battleground states on clean air and water.
- We’ve built a coalition of over 90 national, state, and local groups to coordinate the critical work of electing Joe Biden and share resources like polling and data.
- Matt Barreto, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Latino Decisions
- Rev. Leah Daughtry
- Jennifer Granholm, Former Michigan Governor and Chairwoman of American Bridge
- Arisha Hatch, President, Color Of Change PAC
- Austin W. Keyser, Director of Political and Legislative Affairs Dept. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
- Luis A. Miranda, Jr., Board Chairman, Latino Victory Fund
- Pete Maysmith, Senior Vice President of Campaigns, League of Conservation Voters
- Deval Patrick, Former Massachusetts Governor and Vice Chair of American Bridge
- Michelle Ringuette, Assistant to the President for Politics, Government Relations and Campaigns at the American Federation of Teachers
- Nicole Tisdale, Principal, BTS Consulting
- Howard Wolfson
In recent weeks, Priorities USA Action launched an initial $6.6 million television and digital campaign across Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Arizona to ensure that voters hear the truth about the coronavirus epidemic as Trump spews falsehoods from the White House briefing room on a daily basis. We have now spent more than $8 million on this effort and are continuing to extend it.
The first three TV ads on Trump’s coronavirus response, “Exponential Threat,” “Better Prepared,” and “Front Lines,” use Trump’s own words to show that he downplayed the epidemic even as the number of infected Americans skyrocketed, and refused to help doctors on the front lines with urgently needed equipment. The Trump campaign has threatened TV stations with baseless cease and desist letters in a failed effort to prevent this from being seen by millions of voters in battleground states. The Trump campaign even sued one small Wisconsin TV station, showing just how far they are willing to go to intimidate TV stations into not airing ads critical of the president.
We’ve also released scores of digital content which are being displayed on voters’ screens across battleground states holding Trump accountable for failing to respond effectively to the pandemic:
- “Nurses and Doctors” showcases how the Trump administration has abandoned the medical professionals on the front lines of this crisis, leaving them without the necessary protective equipment to care for patients while keeping themselves safe.
- “Ventilators” gives voice to the patients and medical professionals begging for vital equipment while Trump repeatedly lies by saying we already have enough.
- “Playbook” emphasizes the intelligence that the Trump administration ignored in the months leading up to the coronavirus outbreak, which is now claiming thousands of American lives.
- “Other Countries” juxtaposes the exponential rise of cases in the US with Trump’s lies that we have “very few cases” when compared to other countries.
- “Map” demonstrates that while the number of cases of coronavirus was quickly rising, Trump was still downplaying the crisis and refusing to take responsibility.
- “Truth and Action” and “Steady Leadership” show the American people what real leadership looks like. While Donald Trump continues to demonstrate incompetence and an administration in chaos, Vice President Joe Biden will bring honesty and decisive action back to the White House.
EXPANDING VOTING RIGHTS LITIGATION PROGRAM
The Priorities USA Foundation and Priorities USA has increased our voting rights budget by $2 million as we continue to take on attempts to erect unnecessary barriers to voting across the country. This includes challenging state laws that disenfranchise marginalized communities who already face unique challenges exercising their right to vote, especially during this national health crisis.
In April, we secured two big legal victories in Florida and New Hampshire bringing our current count of litigation victories to 11. In Florida, the Foundation announced that a settlement had been reached on a 2019 lawsuit which allowed college and universities campuses to host early vote locations.
In New Hampshire, the North District Court struck down State Senate Bill 3 (SB3) which created unconstitutional barriers to voting such as a proof of residency requirement in order to register to vote. We proved in court that the law also unreasonably burdened people attempting to vote and violated their equal protection rights.
In the coming weeks, we expect to file several more legal challenges to ensure that Americans can exercise their right to vote, whether by mail or safely in person in November.
Priorities USA Action
April 14, 2020
Priorities USA Action Launches New TV Ad Holding Trump Accountable for Continued Mismanagement of the Coronavirus Crisis
Priorities USA Action is launching a new television ad focused on the Trump administration’s gross mishandling of one of the worst public health crises in American history.As the coronavirus threatens the well-being of hundreds of thousands of American communities, Donald Trump continues to lie to protect his own political agenda. While doctors and nurses plead for masks and ventilators, President Trump has refused to take adequate action, questioned the need for more critical supplies and even suggested medical professionals are stealing supplies.
The new ad, Front Lines, contrasts Trump’s statements with news clips of doctors and nurses who are putting their lives at risk battling the virus on the front lines.
The ad will be running on cable and broadcast in FL, MI, PA and WI as part of the $70 million of paid media reservations Priorities placed for the period prior to the convention. Priorities has already spent more than $7.5 million on TV and digital ads related to President Trump’s failed response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump campaign has repeatedly attempted to bully TV stations into not running Priorities’ ads, even going so far as to sue a local station in Wisconsin.
“In this time of crisis, we need to listen to our medical professionals and ensure they have the resources they need to keep them safe while they keep us safe. Unfortunately, Donald Trump is more concerned with deflecting blame and protecting his own political standing than taking the necessary steps to protect our country,” said Guy Cecil, Chairman of Priorities USA. “We need a leader who is trustworthy, decisive, and puts the needs of the American people first. Donald Trump is simply not up to the task. We will not let Trump dictate the narrative and will continue to air the facts and the truth and hold the president accountable.”
Priorities USA Action
April 13, 2020
Priorities USA Action Response to Trump Campaign Lawsuit Against Wisconsin TV Station
The following is a statement from Priorities USA Chairman Guy Cecil in response to the Trump campaign filing a lawsuit against a local TV station in Wisconsin over the fact that they have continued running a Priorities USA Action ad that uses Donald Trump’s own words to show how he downplayed the spread of COVID-19 for months while the number of infected Americans increased exponentially. The ad can be found here.“This is pretty simple. Donald Trump doesn’t want voters to hear the truth and he’s trying to bully TV stations into submission. The truth is that Trump ignored warnings from experts and his own team and downplayed the coronavirus even as it spread unchecked across the country and the world. Americans are now suffering as a result of his inaction. We will never stop airing the facts and holding the president accountable for his actions.”
Here are a few examples of the widespread news coverage of Trump downplaying the virus:
CBS News: Trump Says Coronavirus “Will Go Away” And Urges Americans To “Just Stay Calm”
New York Times: A Complete List of Trump’s Attempts to Play Down Coronavirus
Politico: Trump Rallies His Base To Treat Coronavirus As A “Hoax”
CNBC: Trump dismissed coronavirus pandemic worry in January — now claims he long warned about it
CNN: Fact check: Trump tries to erase the memory of him downplaying the coronavirus
Vox: Trump spent weeks downplaying the coronavirus. He’s now pretending that never happened.
Vox: “I don’t take responsibility at all”: Trump continues downplaying coronavirus threat
NPR: President Trump Has Consistently Downplayed Threat Of Coronavirus
Washington Post: Inside Trump’s Frantic Attempts To Minimize The Coronavirus Crisis
CNN: Fact check: White House falsely claims the coronavirus has been ‘contained’ in the US
New York Times: The President Vs. The Experts: How Trump Played Down The Coronavirus
Business Insider: Public health experts warn Trump’s history of lying about crises is a ‘real problem’ as he downplays coronavirus and contradicts the CDC
Priorites USA Action
April 8, 2020
Priorities USA Action Releases New Digital Ads Holding Trump Accountable for Disastrous Coronavirus Response
Priorities USA Action
April 1, 2020
Priorities USA Action Extends and Expands Ad Buy, Launches Biden vs. Trump Contrast Ads
In response to America First Action announcing a $10 million ad buy, Priorities USA Action is expanding its original $6.6 million television and digital ad buy holding Donald Trump accountable for his failed response to the coronavirus pandemic and beginning to air “Better Prepared,” a spot contrasting the chaotic failed leadership of Donald Trump with the strong, steady leadership of Vice President Joe Biden. The spot will run alongside “One Week Later,” which uses Trump’s own words to show how he downplayed the crisis even as the number of infections grew exponentially. The Trump campaign has tried and failed to block TV stations from running the first two coronavirus ads that Priorities USA Action has run.As an initial step, Priorities is adding an additional $1 million of ad time and extending by a week in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Priorities is also adding more digital ad time across these battleground states and Florida. Priorities is already running a contrast spot, “Steady Leadership,” online.
“Trump is failing the country as a leader during the biggest crisis of our lives. It has always been inevitable that the Trump team would attempt to cover up his dangerous incompetence by attacking Joe Biden,” said Guy Cecil, Chairman of Priorities USA. “With Donald Trump’s super PAC stepping into this race, we will not let Vice President Biden go undefended. We will do whatever we can to both hold Trump accountable during this time of crisis and help Joe Biden get elected in November.”
Priorities USA Action
March 23, 2020
Priorities USA Action Launches Initial $6 Million TV & Digital Ad Buy Holding Trump Accountable for Failing Coronavirus Response
Priorities USA Action is releasing several new TV and digital ads highlighting Donald Trump’s disastrous response to the rapidly worsening coronavirus pandemic. The ads also contrast Trump’s chaotic, unstable behavior with the honest, steady leadership that Vice President Joe Biden would bring to the job.Trump’s response to the crisis has been nothing short of a failure. Not only did he waste months and squander numerous opportunities to mitigate the risk to the American people, he continues to lie constantly and fail to act in the best interest of the country. It is imperative that voters know the truth about Trump’s failures so they can continue to hold their government accountable in this time of crisis.
The first TV ad, “Exponential Threat,” is inspired by an ad created by the group Fellow Americans, and highlights Trump’s repeated comments downplaying the virus and shirking responsibility as the number of infections in America increased exponentially. Trump knew early on the extreme danger posed by the coronavirus to the American people, but he intentionally lied about it in order to serve his own short-term political goals.
“Exponential Threat” will begin running in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on Tuesday and is part of a $6 million TV and digital buy across the four states. The buy may expand to more states at a later date.
Priorities is also releasing a second TV ad, “Better Prepared,” which highlights how Joe Biden’s wealth of experience and good judgment position him as a more effective, trustworthy leader for our country in moments of crisis. While Trump lies constantly and refuses to heed the advice of his advisors, Biden will lead with science, listen to experts and always tell the American people the truth — even when it’s hard.
Additionally, Priorities is releasing two digital ads that will begin running on Tuesday across a variety of online platforms like Facebook and streaming TV. These ads — “Map” and “Steady Leadership” — feature similar themes as their longer TV counterparts, emphasizing Trump’s refusal to adequately prepare the country for the coming crisis and how Biden’s steady hand would provide a significant departure from the chaos currently enveloping our government, respectively. Since last week, Priorities has also been promoting news content to voters in critical battleground states to keep them informed about Trump’s failure to respond effectively to the mounting crisis.
“From the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, Donald Trump has repeatedly misled the American people and exposed us to unnecessary danger. His failure to lead continues to have real life and death consequences as hospitals, local and state governments, small businesses, and millions of Americans are left without the tools and information they need,” said Priorities USA Chairman Guy Cecil. “Tens of thousands of people are sick, hundreds have already died, and millions are losing their jobs. We simply cannot allow Donald Trump to continue to lie and spread misinformation unchecked. The American people deserve the truth about their president.”
Priorities USA Action
February 25, 2020
Priorities USA Action Launches First TV Ads In Key Battleground States
Washington, DC— Today, Priorities USA Action is releasing its first two TV ads of the 2020 cycle which showcase President Trump’s disastrous policies and actions. The ad buy will begin in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and expand to Michigan and Florida in the coming weeks as part of the organization’s $150 million plan to counter the Trump campaign ahead of the Democratic convention in July.The ads focus on the real negative impact that Trump’s policies, chaos, impulsiveness, and arrogance are having on people’s lives.
These themes are front and center in the first ad, ‘Whatever I Want,’ which directly ties Trump’s chaotic and impulsive governing style to the government shutdown, rising health care costs, proposed Medicare cuts to pay for corporate tax cuts and foreign policy failures.
‘Whatever I Want’
WATCH HERE
The second ad features Amy, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017. If President Trump had his way, insurance companies would once again be able to discriminate against her for her pre-existing condition. Trump and his Republican allies in Congress are attempting to gut protections for people like Amy, jeopardizing health care for over 130 million Americans who live with a pre-existing condition.
‘Amy’
WATCH HERE
Priorities has outspent Trump online in key states since July 2019, and is continuing to counter the Trump campaign on all fronts, launching a new wave of digital ads in Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin earlier this month.
“We may not know who the Democratic nominee will be, but the general election has already begun,” said Guy Cecil, Chairman of Priorities USA and Priorities USA Action. “We’re taking the fight to Trump now, because it is imperative that Democrats communicate with voters early and hold him accountable for the ways in which his actions and policies are hurting millions of people across the country. Trump’s chaotic and impulsive presidency means more than just an ever-changing cable news cycle — it has a very real and damaging effect on the lives of millions of Americans who can’t afford Trump’s attacks on Medicare and affordable health care.”
Watch Guy Cecil discuss the new TV ads on Rachel Maddow HERE.
Priorities USA has already reserved $70 million for television and digital advertising. The organization will spend about $40 million on digital video and audio platforms such as Youtube, Hulu, and Pandora in addition to about $30 million spent on TV advertising.
“For too long, political organizations have perpetuated a false choice between investing online or on television. Our job is to reach voters regardless of which screen they’re watching. As we invest heavily in communicating this critical message, we’re excited to be integrating television and digital into one strategy,” said Danielle Butterfield, Director of Paid Media for Priorities USA and Priorities USA Action.
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