Bernie Sanders launches Nevada TV ad campaign

Nicole Gaudiano | USA TODAY

Sen. Bernie Sanders began running TV ads in Nevada on Tuesday.

The "Real Change" ad, billed by Sanders' campaign as the first major Nevada TV blitz by a 2016 White House candidate, highlights the Vermont independent's biography and advocacy for "working families and for principle."

Sanders is counting on strong finishes in the first contests in Iowa (Feb. 1) and New Hampshire (Feb. 9.) to give his bid for the Democratic nomination momentum. But he's also making investments in states that vote later. The Nevada caucuses on Feb. 20 are the third major electoral event.

“Bernie intends to run a full-fledged national campaign beginning in Iowa and New Hampshire and extending into later states across the nation,” Sanders’ senior adviser, Tad Devine, said in a statement. “The campaign's movement into Nevada with statewide television advertising is a demonstration of Bernie's potential and strength with voters and our belief that his story and message of American's rigged economy held in place by a corrupt system of campaign finance will resonate powerfully across the nation.”

Sanders plans campaign stops next week in Reno and Las Vegas.

His campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, said more than 2 million contributions have given Sanders the resources for a strong advertising presence.

“We look forward to expanding Bernie's campaign on the ground and in the airwaves in many more states in the days and weeks ahead,” he said in a statement.