Made for TV Candidates 📺

In 2022, GOP bets big on media personalities to power electoral gains

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Jul 01, 2022

With Trumpian charisma, large social media followings, and a little hair-and-makeup prep, more than a dozen Republican TV, digital media, and radio personalities have attempted runs for major office this year. Several of them are even favored in high-profile races this November. In this week’s FWIW, we’ll share how conservative made-for-TV candidates are using their large social media followings or sky-high name ID to shake up the midterms.

But first…

By the numbers

FWIW, here were the top-spending political advertisers on Facebook + Instagram last week:

In the wake of last Friday’s devastating Supreme Court decision to strike down Roe v. Wade, the top political advertiser on Facebook and Instagram has been (and continues to be) Planned Parenthood. The pro-choice group is spending around $100,000/day on ads educating Americans about the ramifications of the Dobbs decision while building its online grassroots army to fight back. It’s not just Planned Parenthood - NARAL Pro-Choice America has also increased its digital ad spending on the issue, urging Congress to take action.

In midterm news, Illinois Republicans chose their nominee for Governor on Tuesday, and the biggest online spenders in that race were…Democrats. Here’s how the DGA and the Pritzker campaign used Facebook to sink their top Republican rival.

Meanwhile, here were the top political advertisers on Google platforms last week, including YouTube:

For the fourth week in a row, Republican dark money group One Nation was the top advertiser on Google and YouTube advertising, with most of their ad dollars being spent attacking Democratic Sens. Warnock, Hassan, Kelly, and Cortez Masto on YouTube. They’re also spending big to prop up Sen. Ron Johnson in Wisconsin.

… and here are the top political ad spenders on Snapchat so far this year:

Trending on Facebook

Often, content that is shared organically on social media platforms like Facebook can have a much larger impact + reach than paid advertising. Which midterm candidates are receiving the most reactions, comments, and shares on their campaign’s Facebook posts?

FWIW, here were the most engaged U.S. Senate candidates on Facebook last week:

Mehmet Oz led all other Senate candidates in terms of Facebook users interacting with his campaign’s content this week. His team also had the top-performing post among U.S. Senate hopefuls - a pretty generic text post echoing MAGA and Big Oil rhetoric.

Meanwhile, here’s the same data for battleground gubernatorial candidates on Facebook:

Texas Democrat Beto O’Rourke beat out all other gubernatorial candidates in terms of Facebook engagement last week. Interestingly, his top post was a candidate contrast graphic about education.

From around the internet

Political accounts and internet personalities immediately took to Facebook and Instagram to respond to last Friday’s Supreme Court ruling on abortion rights. Here’s a roundup of which posts received the most engagement across Facebook and Instagram.

AXIOS found that ahead of the 2024 presidential election, allies of Ron DeSantis plan to use some questionably legal digital tactics to grow the Florida Governor’s email list.

Made for TV candidates 📺

With Trumpian charisma, large social media followings, and a little hair-and-makeup prep, more than a dozen Republican TV and radio personalities have attempted runs for major office this year. Several could even win. These local TV anchors, talk radio hosts, and cable news personalities have entered GOP primaries armed with higher name ID and larger social media followings than most of their opponents - plus, they’re great at reading scripts.

From the newsroom to the Governor’s mansion

Some of the most prominent of these media personalities running for office are hoping to occupy Governor’s mansions from Arizona to Michigan. In Arizona, longtime Phoenix TV news anchor (and secret drag queen fan) Kari Lake has led polling in that state’s GOP gubernatorial primary and would be neck and neck with Democrat Katie Hobbs in November. Lake boasts over 600,000 followers across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter - eight times as many as Hobbs (74,000) - and regularly receives higher levels of engagement on Facebook. Although she’s been endorsed by Donald Trump, Lake still has to survive a competitive primary on August 2nd.

Across state lines in New Mexico, another longtime local news personality, KQRE Chief Meteorologist Mark Ronchetti is challenging Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in her re-election campaign. Ronchetti has become well known among New Mexico’s electorate, first for his career on Albuquerque’s TV news, and later for challenging now-Sen. Ben Ray Lujan in 2020. Despite New Mexico’s recent blue leanings, head-to-head polls show Ronchetti trailing Lujan Grisham by just single digits - and within the margin of error.

…and up in Michigan, far-right cable TV news host Tudor Dixon aims to take on Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this fall. That state’s Republican primary for Governor won’t be decided until August 2nd, and has already been an absolute mess - with leading candidates disqualified from the ballot or arrested. Ever the cable news fan, Donald Trump hasn’t endorsed in this race yet - but Dixon is rumored to be his favorite.

We should note at least one other candidate with a media background is on a gubernatorial ticket this fall: right-wing talk radio host Stephanie Trussell, nominated this week to run for Lt. Governor of Illinois alongside Darren Bailey. Bailey and Trussell are expected to lose.

From cable to Capitol Hill

We’ve already written at length about the highest-profile media personality running for office this cycle: Dr. Mehmet Oz, who’s taking on PA Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in one of the nation’s most competitive Senate races in November. Oz’s candidacy benefits greatly from his over 13 million social media followers - a following he’s built over his career as “America’s Doctor.” To win his primary, Oz edged out another media personality, Kathy Barnette, who leveraged her audience as a conservative political commentator to gain support in the race’s final weeks.

Less…umm…competitive is Joe Pinion, a former Newsmax anchor who is the Republican nominee running against Sen. Chuck Schumer in New York. Pinion has a sub-zero chance of winning, but is just one more example of 2022 candidates getting their start in the media business.

On the House side, at least one candidate’s chances are more promising. That’s Anna Paulina Luna, a right-wing influencer running in Florida’s 13th Congressional District, a swing seat that Cook Political has rated ‘Likely Republican.’ She is listed as a Chief Correspondent for far-right digital outlet El American, has worked with conservative video site PragerU, and hosts her own podcast. Luna is something of a social media star, with around 500,000 Instagram followers - that’s a uniquely large megaphone for a lowly congressional candidate.

Luna aims to follow in the footsteps of several former media figures that have occupied House seats recently, including Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (FL), Rep. Tom Emmer (MN), and former Rep. Jason Lewis (MN).

Other media personalities-turned-congressional candidates that have already lost or dropped out this cycle include Mike Koolidge (IL), Subrina Banks (OK), Graham Allen (SC), and Morgan Ortagus (TN).

Conservative media has become central to the Republican party in 2022. Now more than ever, a Republican candidate’s ability to win over viewers on Newsmax, OANN, and Tucker Carlson is more critical than any track record in government. Republicans are increasingly ditching conventional candidate resumes and turning to candidates who boast Trumpian levels of experience behind the camera. While these types of unconventional candidates have met some success in GOP primaries this cycle, it remains to be seen if that will translate to electoral gains in November.