How swing state voters see Kamala Harris portrayed on prime-time TV ads

When voters in battleground states turn on their televisions, they’re likely to see Vice President Kamala Harris mentioned multiple times during commercial breaks as both campaigns and their allies release a deluge of ads in support of and against the new Democratic presidential nominee.

After a campaign reset in which President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and Vice President Kamala Harris ascended to the top of the ticket, both sides are scrambling to recalibrate their messaging, with Democrats working to introduce Harris to voters and Republicans working to undercut and define her as a “soft-on-crime radical who is too dangerous for the White House.”

Nearly halfway through August, the campaigns, along with their allies, have already reserved $247 million in ad spending this month, which is 19% more than they did in August 2020, according to AdImpact, an ad-tracking firm.

According to an independent analysis of television advertisements by the Washington Examiner in local television markets on Wednesday in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina during prime-time hours, the majority of ads were pro-Harris from either her campaign or Future Forward PAC. 

The pro-Harris ad blitz

Harris’s campaign launched a $90 million advertising effort over the next couple of weeks to launch her candidacy with just 2 1/2 months until Election Day in November. The campaign focuses on the vice president’s personal narrative and her previous career as a prosecutor and presents a contrast to former President Donald Trump’s “dangerous, extreme agenda,” according to her team. 

The vice president is expected to accept her party’s nomination in less than a week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, giving her a shorter-than-usual time frame to take control of the narrative. Ads running from her campaign focus on her biography and depict her as someone who has fought for everyday people. 

The most common ad airing in every market is a 30-second spot, titled “Knows,” which begins with images of Harris in various photos as a young child and then transitions to footage of Harris interacting with voters. 

“She grew up in a middle-class home. She was the daughter of a working mom. And she worked at McDonald’s while she got her degree,” a narrator says in the ad. “Kamala Harris knows what it’s like to be middle class. It’s why she’s determined to lower healthcare costs and make housing more affordable.”

The ad then pivots to images of Trump and his Mar-a-Lago resort. “Donald Trump has no plan to help the middle class — just more tax cuts for billionaires,” the narrator continues. “Being president is about who you fight for, and she’s fighting for people like you.”

Another ad titled “Tougher” from the Harris campaign highlights her background as a prosecutor and her time as district attorney of San Francisco and California attorney general.  

“As vice president, she backed the toughest border control bill in decades,” a narrator states on the video. “And as president, she will hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking. Fixing the border is tough. So is Kamala Harris.”

The anti-Harris message

Former President Donald Trump and super PACs aligned with him are seeking to exploit Harris’s California roots and brand her as a “liberal” and “soft-on-crime radical.” A new ad from MAGA Inc. casts Harris as “dangerously liberal” and the architect of “the worst border crisis in American history.”

Make America Great Again Inc., aligned with the former president’s campaign said it will spend $100 million on ads between now and Labor Day. According to a new memo from the group, there is now a $70 million wave of TV and digital ads in Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Carolina, in addition to expanding current campaigns in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona. 

Recent ads from the group label Harris as “dangerously liberal” and highlight her record on immigration and her time as San Francisco district attorney. The most run ad on Wednesday from the group begins with a clip of Harris in which she says, “I’m radical; I believe we need to get radical.”

“Radical Kamala raised money for a fund that bailed out violent criminals, that freed murderers and rapists. They even bailed out a domestic abuser. Days later, he murdered a man,” a narrator says in the 30-second spot. 

The ad also features previous comments from Harris in which she discusses defunding the police. 

“The idea that more police equals more safety, that’s just wrong,” she says. “We have to have this conversation about redirecting resources.” 

The ad closes with a video of Harris with the words “dangerously liberal” on the screen. MAGA Inc. has already run $111.6 million in pro-Trump advertising since the beginning of 2023 through Monday, including digital ads. After Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee after Super Tuesday in March, MAGA Inc. has run $71.2 million worth of advertising.

Trump and his campaign have focused ads on immigration, casting Harris as the Biden administration’s “border czar.” She was tasked by Biden to tackle the causes of migration at the border.

An ad from the Trump campaign airing across battleground states cites examples of violent criminals allegedly “released” by Harris during her time as San Francisco district attorney.

“Who released every one of them — liberal DA, Kamala Harris,” the narrator says in the ad. “The victim’s blood is on her hands.”

Preserve America, a pro-Trump super PAC, also is running three ads in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, admonishing Harris over her work leading the Biden administration’s response to the southern border crisis.