By
There are some new sheriffs in town in the GOP presidential ad spending race, as the super PACs backing former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum have been spending furiously in recent weeks.
Stand for America Fund Inc., the Haley-aligned group, has $2.3 million on ads — more money than any other group so far this month — per the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. The group's main TV ad highlights Haley's time as ambassador, calling her "tough as nails, smart as a whip, unafraid to speak the truth."
It's the first sizable pro-Haley ad-spend, as her campaign has been largely dark on the airwaves so far.
Best of America, the pro-Burgum group, is picking up from where the candidate left off. Burgum's campaign spent millions of dollars on ads as he was looking to build enough name recognition to hit the Republican National Committee's donor and polling thresholds required to make the first debate next week. But since then, he's tamped down his ad spending, and Best of America has spent $2.1 million so far this month.
The pro-Burgum ads also tout his biography as a "conservative business leader" who is "raised with small-town values."
Other major outside groups are spending big too — Never Back Down and Maga Inc., groups aligned with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump respectively, have spent about $1.4 million each.
So has South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott's campaign, making him the only candidate whose campaign has spent over $1 million this month.