The political action committee of one of the country’s largest public-sector unions reported nearly $1 million in TV ad spending last week in support of Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, one of five Democratic Senate incumbents in toss-up races in November.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) PAC reported $973,000 in TV ad costs, according to a recent Federal Election Commission filing.

AFSCME’s PAC is one of the largest sources of campaign contributions and outside spending on behalf of Democrats among public sector unions, along with two public school unions, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association.

The labor union is made up of about 3,400 local unions and 58 councils across 46 states and represents over “1.6 million working and retired members,” according to AFSCME’s website.

The $973,000 spent in support of a Democratic candidate is an atypical strategy for the group, which generally spends its money on attack ads opposing Republicans.

In 2012, AFSCME spent $12.2 million against 21 Republican Senate, House and Presidential candidates and just over $272,000 in support of two Democrats (New York House candidates Sean Patrick Maloney and Kathleen Hochul).

In the 2014 cycle, the group spent $6.3 million in opposition ads against six Republican House and Senate candidates. Only $141,000 of the group’s $15.2 million in outside spending supported Democratic candidates (Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada and Hillary Clinton) in the 2016 cycle.

The pro-Nelson ad spending, however, points to how critical the Florida Senate seat is to liberal groups and the Democratic Party, whose chances of regaining control of the House in the November general election are promising but unlikely on the Senate side.

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Nelson is one of five incumbent Democrats in “toss-up” races, according to Cook Political Report. The other Senate races with vulnerable Democrats are in Indiana (Joe Donnelly), Missouri (Claire McCaskill), West Virginia (Joe Manchin) and North Dakota (Heidi Heitkamp).

The Nelson ad buys comes two months after Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott, co-founder of a successful for-profit healthcare company, announced his candidacy for the state’s Republican Senate primary in August.

Scott spent $75 million on his 2010 gubernatorial campaign and won reelection in 2014. (His campaign committee has yet to file a financial report with the Federal Election Commission.) Republican Rocky De La Fuente, who ran and lost in a California Republican Senate primary recently, appears to be Scott’s only challenger in the Florida Republican primary.

AFSCME’s TV ad spending also comes while the union awaits a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that may jeopardize its fundraising ability and political strength, as well as that of other public employee unions, in the years to come.

The case, Janus v. AFSCME, involves a local AFSCME chapter in Illinois and whether a public employee who chooses not to join the union but still benefits from the group’s activities should be required to pay a non-member “agency fee” to support the group. The conservative-leaning Court is widely expected to vote against AFSCME and in favor of Mark Janus, the plaintiff and an employee for the state of Illinois.

So far, outside spending in the Florida Senate race has landed primarily on Nelson, with over $6.6 million being split nearly equally in support and against his reelection campaign. The spending includes AFSCME’s June TV ad buys on his behalf and opposition spending by New Republican PAC, a Rick Scott-aligned super PAC, which has reported spending close to $3 million attacking Nelson this cycle.

Other conservative outside spending against Nelson includes $375,000 from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Senate Majority PAC, meanwhile, has spent $2.3 million backing Nelson.



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