Republican U.S. Senate candidate Lynda Blanchard on Friday announced she is launching an initial television advertising buy in her 2022 bid to succeed retiring Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL).
Blanchard, who was appointed by then-President Donald J. Trump in 2017 to serve as the ambassador to Slovenia, said in a written press release that she will begin airing her first TV spots of the cycle next week.
The initial ad buy is said to total $100,000 and will reportedly span three weeks, beginning March 11. The ads will appear around the state during game coverage of NCAA March Madness and on Fox News Channel.
Blanchard at this time is the only announced candidate in the race. She announced a personal investment of $5 million in the race when she made her campaign announcement.
“As the first announced candidate for the U.S. Senate, it is important for Republican voters to learn about me and where I stand on the issues that matter to us most,” Blanchard said in a statement. “We plan an aggressive and well-funded television campaign, and I look forward to telling my story and making my case as a Christian, conservative, Trump Republican.”
Her campaign also wrote that the initial three-week buy could be extended. They have also reportedly reserved a total of $3 million in radio and TV ads through the 2022 primary election date, however reserving ad time does not lock a campaign into actually spending money until each respective ad would run.
The primary is currently slated for May 24, 2022, however the Alabama Legislature is considering legislation to bump that date back due to awaiting the results of the 2020 Census and subsequent redistricting.
“Just like President Trump famously self-funded his 2016 presidential campaign, I am an outsider who cannot be bought,” Blanchard added on Friday. “The only way to fully drain the Swamp is for outsider candidates like me to run and win because the Washington insiders, career politicians, and RINO establishment want to keep things just the way they are.”
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Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn