WASHINGTON (AP) – A well-funded outside group helping Texas Sen. Ted Cruz fight for the Republican presidential nomination has purchased $2.5 million of television advertising time – an investment that catapults it to the top tier of spenders in the 2016 race.
Keep the Promise I, one of more than half a dozen Cruz-themed super political action committees, placed new TV ads to begin airing Tuesday in Iowa, the first state up in the primary contest, spokeswoman Kristina Hernandez said Monday. The ad buy expands to third-to-vote South Carolina in a week, she said.
The ads come as Cruz appears to be picking up steam in the still-crowded Republican primary. He is at or near the top of recent polls in Iowa without having spent much campaign money to advertise there. Likewise, his super PACs have been slow to start spending major money on commercials.
That changes with this ad buy.
The new investment more than doubles what Keep the Promise I had previously booked on ads and puts it well ahead of Cruz’s official campaign spending on TV, according to advertising tracker Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group.