Senator Doug Jones’ (D-AL) campaign has been running ads soliciting contributions on social media that are only being delivered to people outside of Alabama.
An analysis of Jones’ Facebook advertising archives shows that starting on Friday, March 15, the junior senator’s campaign started running ads touting Jones’ re-election bid as being decisive for Democrats to win control of the United States Senate, a situation that would likely result in Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) becoming the Senate Majority Leader.
However, in a move that would be unusual for most candidates across the country, Jones’ now-inactive ads excluded Alabama residents from seeing the posts.
One ad declared, “Don’t just take our word for it: Even election expert Nate Silver knows the path for Democrats to take back the Senate goes through Alabama. Doug Jones HAS to win for us to have a chance.”
This ad was most viewed in California (eight percent), New York (seven percent), Texas (seven percent) and Illinois (four percent).
Another said, “Mitch McConnell would want you to scroll right past this message. But it’s too important to ignore. The path to taking back the Senate goes through Alabama.”
This ad was most viewed in California (nine percent), Texas (seven percent) and New York (six percent).
“The math is simple: We can’t take back the Senate without Doug Jones winning in Alabama. We did it in 2017. Now Doug needs our help again. Are you with us?” a third read.
This ad was most viewed in California (13 percent), New York (eight percent), Texas (five percent) and Florida (five percent).
One stated, “The path to 51 seats goes through Alabama. If we want to take back the Senate, we have to make sure Doug Jones wins. Are you ready to win? Help Doug now.”
This ad was most viewed in California (13 percent), New York (eight percent) and Texas (seven percent).
Then, another commented, “Doug’s path to win is pretty simple: Register voters. Work hard in Washington for real solutions. And tell the voters of Alabama the truth. But we need your help to do it. Are you with us?”
This ad was most viewed in California (ten percent), Texas (eight percent), New York (five percent), Florida (five percent) and Illinois (five percent).
None of these ads were displayed in Alabama.
However, they all linked to a fundraising page that declared, “If we want to protect the progress we’ve made, Doug Jones HAS to win in 2020. The future of Medicare, Social Security, and our health care depends on it. You saw what happened when we came together in 2017. We can do it again. Will you step up and make sure Doug has the support he needs to win[?] Chip in now to support Doug Jones for Senate!”
This comes just weeks after it was revealed that Jones raised more money from overseas than Alabama last quarter.
The incumbent from Mountain Brook has also been accused on several occasions of being more closely aligned to Schumer than the people of Alabama.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.