Moms for Liberty to spend over $3 million targeting presidential swing state voters
NEW YORK (AP) — The conservative parental rights group Moms for Liberty plans to spend more than $3 million on a multi-state advertising blitz to increase its membership and engage voters before November, following through on a pledge it made last year to become more politically active across the country in 2024.
Yet the considerable investment comes with a twist for a group that has previously said its focus was on local school board races: It will specifically target voters in Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin, four states that are among the most important presidential battlegrounds this fall, and some of its initial advertising directly criticizes the Biden administration. The group hopes to expand its efforts to the three other swing states that will help decide the presidential contest.
The campaign signals Moms for Liberty’s return to the national spotlight after a spate of bad press and criticism. The group emerged in 2021 as a rising star in conservative politics but has faced backlash for variousscandals and for its efforts to strip mentions of LGBTQ+ identity and structural racism from the classroom.
The coordinated push in presidential swing states also raises questions about the group’s intentions and funding. The nonprofit has long classified itself as a grassroots collection of like-minded parents. But Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich told The Associated Press that the new campaign came about as “investors” have approached the group wanting to see it “grow in specific states.”
Descovich said the intention is for Moms for Liberty to “grow more grassroots chapters” and that its existing local chapters are supportive of the campaign. She noted that Georgia, where the campaign kicked off this week, has just seven Moms for Liberty chapters.
The ad push will expand into Arizona, North Carolina and Wisconsin within the next month, Descovich said. The group hopes to promote the campaign later this year in the three other major presidential swing states — Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania. The Nevada effort will focus on Clark County, which includes Las Vegas.