EXCLUSIVE – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is launching a new digital ad campaign touting the economic records of eight incumbent House Republicans as the party fights to retain its majority in November.
The issue advocacy ads boost Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Jeff Hurd (R-CO), Bryan Steil (R-WI), David Valadao (R-CA), Tom Barrett (R-MI), Brad Finstad (R-MN), Jeff Crank (R-CO), and Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL). It is not clear how much the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is spending on the campaign.
Created using artificial intelligence and paid for by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the ads highlight the lawmakers’ economic records. Each follows the same format, with the content tailored to the individual candidate it promotes. The ads were released Friday and will continue until Election Day.
The ad, titled “Stuck,” features a voiceover appealing to the public feeling trapped by economic policies and changes.
“It feels like we’ve been stuck,” the voiceover said. “First, COVID shutdowns, then rising prices. We’ve been spinning our wheels, but there are people working to get us out.”
The ads are uniform, except at the end when they call on voters to thank the specific lawmaker.
For example, in the ad supporting Lawler, the voiceover credits the congressman with helping people by backing the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“Now we’re counting on him to pass the bipartisan Affordability and Jobs Act,” the voiceover says. “Thank Mike Lawler for getting us unstuck, and tell him to keep us moving forward.”
Republicans are under pressure this cycle amid rising costs of living and the Iran war, which has increased the cost of gas and diesel. The party is facing historical headwinds, as midterm elections typically favor the party that does not control the White House.
Neil Bradley, the executive vice president and chief policy officer, told the Washington Examiner that the ads are part of the organization’s education advocacy efforts and are meant to ask voters to “contact incumbent Republican members to thank them for their work on the economy.”
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Bradley explained that while the U.S. Chamber of Commerce gets involved in competitive races, it doesn’t weigh in on every competitive race, with its focus being on candidates with whom it has a relationship.
“We do endorsements basically in two categories,” Bradley said. “The first is incumbent numbers, and you know that’s a combination of their record in office as a legislator. You know, whether we’ve worked with them on kind of key priority issues. Sometimes you don’t get all the things you want across the finish line in any given year. But it’s important to have lawmakers who are working that you’re working with to help advance proposals.”