Democrats’ biggest digital cheerleader

Gavin Newsom is rallying the Democratic grassroots online - and boosting his own image in the process

It’s widely known that California Gov. Gavin Newsom really wanted to run for president in 2024. However, those ambitions were quickly put on hold as President Biden’s re-election plans solidified last fall. Now, the San Francisco Democrat has pivoted to a new strategy: become the biggest cheerleader for Biden and against Republican extremism, while building his own national brand in the process. 

In this week’s FWIW, we’ll break down Newsom’s extraordinary online campaign to energize Democrats across the country. But first…

---

By the numbers

FWIW, political advertisers spent just over $8.4 million on Facebook and Instagram ads last week. These were the top ten spenders nationwide:

The Biden campaign continues to be a top-spending advertiser on Facebook and Instagram week after week. Last week, they ran a bunch of new fundraising ads marking the anniversary of the Supreme Court Dobbs decision, vowing to fight back to support women’s rights. Along those same lines, the DNC is running these ads on Dobbs targeting swing-state voters. 

We should note that Team Biden has run ads from multiple pages on Facebook, including spending more than $400,000 in the past 90 days from Kamala Harris’ page. It shows that despite what the national press corps thinks, the VP remains a powerful messenger for engaging grassroots Democrats. 

We came across some big news in the digital advertising space this week: Instagram is now allowing political ads to run across its popular Reels feature. It’s a huge opportunity for campaigns and outside groups to reach voters in a place where they are spending a lot of time. Here’s the announcement email that Meta sent to major political advertisers on Monday… and we will be watching closely to see who ventures first into the world of political ads on Reels.  

Meanwhile, political campaigns spent $943,000 on Google and YouTube ads last week. Here were the top ten spenders:

Next year’s U.S. Senate race in Montana, in which Democrat Jon Tester is seeking re-election, will likely be one of the nation’s most competitive. This week, establishment Republicans got their dream candidate in businessman and veteran Tim Sheehy, who they consider a top choice to take Tester’s seat next fall. When Sheehy launched his campaign on Tuesday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee was already running fundraising ads on Google supporting his candidacy. 

However, in order to challenge Tester, Sheehy may first have to run the Right-wing gauntlet by defeating conservative firebrand Rep. Matt Rosendale in a competitive primary election.  

…and on Snapchat, political campaigns and organizations in the United States have spent around $1.4 million on advertising in 2023. Here are the top ten spenders YTD:

---

Let’s keep this whole thing going

I’m going to be honest with you: this month has been a tough one for FWIW’s growth. We had a huge month in May, becoming a Substack Featured publication - but subscriber growth has plateaued since then. If you want to see this newsletter continue through the 2024 election, I’m hoping you can click on the button below and become a premium subscriber. Plus, you’ll get access to exclusive content like today’s deep dive section about Gavin Newsom and Tuesday round-ups just for VIP subscribers. 

---

Your 2024 digital dispatch

FWIW, here’s how much money likely or confirmed 2024 presidential candidates have spent on Facebook + Google ads to date (1/1 - 6/24):

• Donald Trump continues to quietly divert a percentage of his campaign donations to pay personal legal bills, according to the New York Times

• Will Hurd is trying really hard at this whole “running for president” thing

• Ron DeSantis’s digital team is obsessed with the idea of men getting pregnant

---

From around the internet

• Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta released new information on how its algorithms recommend content to users. You can read all about it at The Verge. Casey Newton also has a good breakdown of Meta’s announcement in Platformer >>

• The Attorney General of Arkansas took aim at campaigns’ scammy digital fundraising techniques in a POLITICO Magazine op-ed. At the same time, Bloomberg reports that political online fundraisers are trying a new tactic: honesty. 

• A Republican U.S. Senator tried to take credit for a bill he didn’t support. The White House and Twitter’s Community Notes feature held him accountable.

• In the midst of a Russian coup attempt, a crowded presidential primary campaign, and consequential Supreme Court rulings, the mainstream political press chose to publish dozens of stories on Wednesday about President Biden using a CPAP machine.

• Bravo’s Andy Cohen taught Vice President Harris about the song of the summer during a visit to Stonewall this week, making some 🔥content for his millions of followers in the process.

---

Deep dive: Democrats’ biggest digital cheerleader

It’s widely known that California Gov. Gavin Newsom really wanted to run for president in 2024. However, those ambitions were quickly put on hold as President Biden’s re-election plans solidified last fall. Now, the San Francisco Democrat has pivoted to a new strategy: become the biggest cheerleader for Biden and against Republican extremism, while building his own national brand in the process.