Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton exits after speaking at a campaign stop on April 10 in New York. | AP Photo Pro-Clinton super PAC ups swing state ad campaign to $90 million

NEW YORK — The main super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton is reserving $20 million more in television ad time beginning the day after California’s June 7 Democratic primary, meaning the group has now set down $90 million to air its anti-Republican message before any GOP candidate or group can respond.

The move by Priorities USA Action to add to its existing August-through-Election Day ad buy in the pivotal swing states of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Virginia means the group will effectively be on the air non-stop between June — by which point Clinton’s campaign expects to have wrapped up its nomination fight against Bernie Sanders — and November 8.


With the early ad reservations, the group is looking to lock in cheaper ad rates than any opposing organization will be able to get down the road. Priorities started March with roughly $45 million on hand, and $49 million more in commitments, after spending $5 million in support of Clinton during her primary battle against Sanders in February and early March.

The group announced its initial $70 million buy in late March, one week after Clinton won primaries in Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and North Carolina.



“Every day, Republican candidates and special interests launch new attacks to deceive and distort Hillary Clinton’s record. Priorities USA will be on the front lines to level the playing field by launching an additional $20 million of airtime in key battleground states across the country, beginning on June 8th,” Priorities’ chief strategist Guy Cecil said in a statement to POLITICO. “This will ensure Priorities aggressively draws the contrast between the dangerous extremism of Republicans like Ted Cruz and Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s record of raising wages, breaking barriers and protecting our country."

Clinton was hit with a new digital ad in New York on Thursday as Karl Rove's American Crossroads super PAC compared her to Richard Nixon in a video spot that's part of its #NeverHillary campaign.

Still, many Democrats have been surprised that more Republican groups haven’t spent heavily against Clinton so far in 2016. Many high-profile GOP donors and operatives have instead been primarily focused on the nomination war raging within their own party between Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich.

Clinton allies, meanwhile, have been readying their attacks against both Trump and Cruz, believing that either one could become the nominee. Priorities, for example, has already started releasing digital spots targeting each of them.