Progressive Rep. Anna V. Eskamani and her political committee is launching a new digital campaign leveraging the end of Roe v. Wade to inspire Floridians who support abortion rights to register to vote.
The Orlando Democrat's announcement comes two months to the day after the U.S. Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade on a 5-4 decision. In Florida, it is paving the way to a 15-week abortion ban — signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis — that is making its way to the Florida Supreme Court.
Overturning Roe v. Wade also appears to have inspired a rebound among Democrats. Special elections in Minnesota, Nebraska and New York congressional districts following the Dobbs decision have hinted at a recent swing toward Democrats, and voters Kansas, a state with ties to abortion opposition, rejected an anti-abortion ballot measure earlier this month. A FiveThirtyEight analysis also predicted for the first time this cycle that Democrats would win the Senate a month after the Dobbs decision, and Republicans' advantage in the House has narrowed.
Eskamani, who worked at Planned Parenthood for six years before running for office, hopes to capitalize on the momentum with her latest ad buy.
"(The) majority of Americans and Floridians agree that abortion must remain safe and legal, but that's not the case anymore," Eskamani said in a statement. "States are banning abortion and criminalizing providers; they're putting patients in harms way and invading the privacy of families. And they're not stopping there either. Governor Ron DeSantis has every intention to completely ban abortion in our state if he wins re-election, and we want to make sure Floridians understand that as we approach the voter registration deadline on October 11th."
The "Abortion is on Your Ballot" ads, intended for Instagram and Facebook, call on eligible voters to register by the Oct. 11 deadline to participate in the Nov. 8 General Election. Five of the ads run in English while one is in Spanish. Eskamani hopes future ads will run on streaming services.
The ad campaign begins with a $30,000 investment, but Eskamani is seeking additional funds.
People Power for Florida, Eskamani's committee and third-party voter registration organization, also launched a high school outreach program last week to register young voters. However, Eskamani considers that a long-term investment.
The political committee, which Eskamani founded in 2017, had more than $118,000 in the bank as of the latest campaign filing last week. Eskamani had no Democratic challenger in House District 42 and is expected to win her General Election matchup.
No comments:
Post a Comment