Outside groups pledge more than $1 billion to support Biden’s reelection efforts

A new $120 million pledge to lift President Biden and his allies will bring the total expected spending by outside groups pushing for Biden’s re-election to $1 billion this year.

The League of Conservation Voters, a leading climate organization that is among the biggest donors to progressive causes, announced its plans Tuesday to support Mr. Biden, at a time when his Republican challenger, former President Donald J. Trump, is struggling to to increase Biden’s support. funds. Mr. Biden’s campaign, independent of outside groups, expects to raise and spend $2 billion as part of his re-election bid.

Republican groups are also likely to make big spending moves into November, but it’s difficult to make direct comparisons between Democratic organizations and their Republican counterparts. Democratic and progressive organizations often announce their spending plans before they have raised the funds, which often come from small donors. Republican groups that rely more on big donors tend not to telegraph their plans.

The pro-Biden outside money comes from nearly a dozen organizations, including climate groups, labor unions and traditional super PACs. There are left-wing groups like MoveOn and moderate Republicans like Republican Voters Against Trump.

The biggest spenders so far are Future Forward, the super PAC blessed by the Biden campaign, which has earmarked more than $250 million in television advertising; the Service Employees International Union, which said last week it would spend $200 million to support Mr. Biden and fellow Democrats; and American Bridge, the Democratic research organization that said as much in January it planned to spend $140 million about an anti-Trump advertising campaign in battleground states.

“The enormity of what we’re talking about has never been seen before in the history of our country,” said Tiffany Muller, the president of End Citizens United, the government reform advocacy group that works to expand the possibilities of this kind of restrict external groups. spend unlimited money on elections.

On Wednesday, the League of Conservation Voters will host its annual dinner in Washington. Among those expected to attend include Vice President Kamala Harris, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the New York Democrat who is the minority leader in the House of Representatives, and a handful of other Democratic members of Congress.

Pete Maysmith, the league’s senior vice president of campaigns, said the group’s funding would subsidize both an advertising campaign on television and digital platforms and an on-the-ground program that will encourage its members and supporters to tell their friends to vote for Biden.

“It’s hard to imagine a bigger stake in this election,” Mr. Maysmith said. “We will communicate with voters in the battleground states and in key races about the stakes, why President Biden has been such a champion on climate change and the obvious and extreme danger of getting Donald Trump and his MAGA back acolytes and big oil enthusiasts. another four years in office.”

Stephanie Schriock, the former president of Emily’s List, the group that supports and finances Democratic women running for office, said she expected the amount of outside money supporting Mr. Biden to be $2.5 billion to $3 billion amounts, where large sums will be spent on legal issues. issues and efforts to get out the vote this fall.

Major Democratic donors, Ms. Schriock said, were animated in recent weeks as Trump closed in on and then clinched the Republican presidential nomination.

“People just didn’t want to believe it was going to be Donald Trump again,” she said. “The whole concept of this happening again just froze them and since Super Tuesday that has changed. People say, ‘Oh, this is happening and this is real.’

It does not include $1 billion in Democratic money pledged on behalf of Mr. Biden another $239 million in advertising disclaimers created by Senate Majority PAC, the super PAC dedicated to electing Senate Democrats. The super PAC backing House Democrats, House Majority PAC, has not yet made any advertising reservations. A spokesperson declined to reveal the group’s plans on Monday.

The $1 billion also does not account for an expected influx of tens of millions — if not more — from organizations supporting Democrats, including Planned Parenthood, and the political groups backed by Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York . Neither Planned Parenthood nor Mr. Bloomberg’s groups have disclosed their spending plans for the 2024 election, but past spending has been significant.

One Republican group that has made its plans public is Faith & Freedom, the conservative organization led by Trump ally Ralph Reed, who said last week that it would spend $62 million to register and turn out evangelical voters for Mr. Trump.

Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC backing Republican Senate candidates, has also earmarked $130 million in ad time for the Senate races in Ohio and Montana.

Trump’s main super PAC has spent $380,000 on radio ads targeting black voters. On the day of Mr. Biden’s State of the Union address this month, another pro-Trump super PAC spent $500,000 on TV ads.

The disparity between the pro-Biden and pro-Trump outside groups reflects the cash advantage Mr. Biden’s campaign has over Mr. Trump’s.

Mr. Biden’s campaign announced Sunday that it, along with the Democratic National Committee and affiliated fundraising organizations, entered March with $155 million in cash on hand. The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee had about $40 million at the end of January. The groups have not released a more recent total.

The Biden campaign is prohibited from coordinating with the outside groups but has publicly encouraged their help.

“These are real and meaningful investments that we expect will reach the voters who will decide this election, while Donald Trump and a cash-strapped Republican Party show no interest or ability to build a winning coalition,” he said. Julie Chávez Rodríguez. , Mr. Biden’s campaign manager.

Mr. Maysmith of the League of Conservation Voters said his group would work with other pro-Biden super PACs to avoid duplication and strengthen their efforts. He said there are already plans to speak to voters who are inclined to support Biden’s climate agenda but are concerned about his age.

“If they raise concerns about the president’s age, we are absolutely prepared to hear that, acknowledge that and then articulate why the president may not be the youngest man, but he has done more on climate change than any other president in the world.” the history of this country,” Mr Maysmith said.

Other groups that support Mr. Biden and have announced their 2024 spending plans include VoteVets, the Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, the pro-Biden super PAC Unite the countryand Climate Power, which announced an $80 million plan last year.

Ms Muller said the massive spending by outside groups, if Biden is re-elected with Democratic majorities in Congress, could lead to long-sought restrictions on the flow of such large sums into the US political ecosystem.

“It is possible that voter confidence will be further eroded,” she said. “There’s not much room left to fall.”