Dark money group targets Greg Abbott in Texas race for governor

Sign up for The Brief, our day by day publication that retains readers in control on essentially the most important Texas news.

A shadowy new group has bought a minimum of $6 million in TV advertisements forward of the November election and is airing an advert that targets Gov. Greg Abbott as he runs for reelection.

The minute-long ad from Coulda Been Worse LLC, which began airing Friday, rattles off a listing of main calamitous occasions which have occurred on Abbott’s watch, just like the Uvalde school shooting and 2021 power-grid collapse. As the narrator speaks, an image slowly zooms out to indicate Abbott’s face.

“Any one of these — a terrible shame for Texas,” the narrator says on the finish. “All of these — a horrific sign something big is terribly, terribly wrong.”

The spot ends with a clip of Abbott saying after the Uvalde bloodbath that it “could have been worse,” more and more a rallying cry of Abbott’s critics. Abbott made the remark whereas praising the regulation enforcement response to the taking pictures, which has since been been widely criticized for taking nicely over an hour to confront the shooter. Abbott later mentioned he was “misled” when he made the remark.

The promoting represents a big escalation as Abbott fights for a 3rd time period in opposition to Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke. Abbott has led O’Rourke by mid-single digits in polls all through the summer season.

Abbott has additionally outpaced O’Rourke on the airwaves. Abbott has been airing TV advertisements for over three weeks, whereas O’Rourke didn’t begin his first sustained statewide TV purchase till Friday.

The news of Coulda Been Worse LLC’s plans bought out Thursday when AdImpact, a media-tracking agency, tweeted that the group was scooping up airtime statewide. It finally reserved $6.1 million on broadcast and cable TV from Friday by means of Oct. 9, based on AdImpact.

The title — Coulda Been Worse — signaled that it might be an anti-Abbott effort, however in any other case, few particulars have been identified about it — which remained the case Friday.

A group by the identical title was registered as an LLC late final month in Delaware, based on information there. Its registered agent is Corporation Service Company in Wilmington.

As an LLC, the group wouldn’t should disclose its donors as political motion committees frequently should do in state races. It is uncommon however not unparalleled — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo and different Democratic incumbents elsewhere have benefited from TV advertisements by an LLC, Better Jobs Together.

In promoting orders filed with the Federal Communications Commission, Coulda Been Worse LLC lists an Arlington, Virginia, handle. It identifies Michael Waters as its government director and Connecticut-based Icon International as its media purchaser. Nether responded to messages in search of extra information Thursday.

Abbott’s marketing campaign rapidly raised questions concerning the group.

“How dirty can Beto’s scam dark money groups be if they won’t give directly to him?” Abbott strategist Dave Carney tweeted. “Won’t protect him for accountability.”

Asked concerning the group after a marketing campaign cease Thursday in Lockhart, O’Rourke mentioned he didn’t “know who this is.” He mentioned the group, in addition to any others prefer it, ought to disclose their donors even when they aren’t required to by regulation.

“Republicans, Democrats, people across the state of Texas, want to make sure that we know who is seeking to influence the outcomes of elections,” O’Rourke mentioned.

The full program is now LIVE for the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival, occurring Sept. 22-24 in Austin. Explore the schedule of 100+ mind-expanding conversations coming to TribFest, together with the within observe on the 2022 elections and the 2023 legislative session, the state of public and better ed at this stage in the pandemic, why Texas suburbs are booming, why broadband entry issues, the legacy of slavery, what actually occurred in Uvalde and a lot extra. See the program.