Harris spent $2.4M on reproductive health ads targeting Georgia voters in campaign’s closing months

Since the state high court ruling, which temporarily set aside the decision by a Fulton County Superior Court judge that the state law was unconstitutional, the Harris campaign has spent at least $2.4 million on broadcast advertising in Georgia on ads that mention women’s reproductive health.

This is just one slice of the more than $118 million that Democratic political action committees have spent on ads supporting the Harris campaign in Georgia this election cycle.

“What recent events have suggested is that abortion may be the issue with which to create more swing voters than we thought possible,” said Beth Reingold, a professor of political science and women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Emory University.

The 60-second ad about Thurman, funded by Harris’ campaign committee, has cost the campaign over $670,000 and aired over 1,200 times, reaching more than 28 million views, according to the Stanford analysis of AdImpact data shows. The ad primarily targets moderate and Republican-leaning areas of the state through smart TVs, a form of television connected to the internet and used for streaming, on stations in Savannah, Macon, Chattanooga and Augusta.

Federal campaign data shows that among the seven swing states pivotal to this year’s presidential election, Georgia ranks second only to North Carolina in expenditures by these single-issue PACs, outpacing the other five states by nearly $210,000.

And it’s not just abortion and women’s issues PACs that are invested in influencing Georgia voters this election cycle. Liberal and conservative issue-based PACs have spent more than $35 million in Georgia since 2023, leading the second-highest swing state in total expenditures, Pennsylvania, by more than $5 million. Compared to the 2019-2020 election cycle, spending in Georgia by these ideologically aligned PACs has increased by at least $23 million.

While some PACs have focused on maintaining their base in historically non-swing counties, others are looking inward to the state’s major cities. The counties on the edge of Atlanta have one key thing in common — shifting demographics, which make them prime targets for flipping votes.

The region’s population swelled by more than 190,000 residents between 2021 and 2024, according to estimates from the Atlanta Regional Commission, with Cobb, Cherokee, Forsyth, Gwinnett and Henry counties accounting for more than two-thirds of the growth outside the city of Atlanta. A comparison of five-year estimates from the American Community Survey shows that, between 2020 and 2022, communities within these counties are becoming increasingly diverse and affluent, continuing existing trends.

EMILY’s List, a PAC focused on electing Democratic women into office, has poured at least $830,000 into Georgia this election cycle. The PAC is the top abortion-rights committee by spending in the state, with the majority of their expenditures in Fulton and Gwinnett counties.

Christina Reynolds, the senior vice president of communications and content at EMILY’s List, said that the organization is fundraising for specific candidates who are “pro choice democratic women.”

“When I say that [abortion] is a top issue for women across the board, that includes Republican women. For many Republican women, this is a thing that is turning them from the Republican Party over to Democrats,” Reynolds said.

In addition to reaching out to persuadable voters, experts point to a Democratic strategy that is engaging new demographics on the abortion issue.

“I think that the geographic focus has been broadened for the first time in memory. I’ve seen so much attention paid to voters outside of the metro (Atlanta area) by Democrats,” said Howard Franklin, a Democratic strategist based in Atlanta.

The target demographics for reproductive rights messaging are also being widened from historical focus on “suburban moms” to include other voter groups, including men, Franklin said.

On the other side, Women Speak Out, a PAC based in Arlington, Virginia, is one of the biggest financial contributors to anti-abortion efforts in Georgia. They have spent at least $52,000 in the state during this election cycle, as well as an additional $22,000 on digital ads targeting Georgians, according to AdImpact.

Women Speak Out did not directly respond to a request for comment, but its partner Susan B Anthony Pro Life America, provided a statement to the AJC.

“SBA pro life America’s top priorities are encouraging states to enact the strongest protections possible for babies and mothers and advancing life in the states by working with pro life governors and legislators to create and reinforce an ongoing ‘Culture of Life,’” State Policy Director Katie Glenn Daniel wrote.

Women Speak Out has focused funding in Jackson County, a Republican stronghold in the northeast region of the state. Donald Trump won Jackson County with more than three-quarters of the vote in 2020.

“For Trump, it’s all about that base, and Jackson is a great example of that,” said Brian Robinson, a Republican strategist. He also pointed to key Georgia areas for Republicans near the Georgia-Florida and North Carolina and Tennessee borders.

Still, there has been less anti-abortion messaging in this cycle, and instead, Republican focus is being shifted to the economy and immigration, Robinson said.

This story was reported by Neha Mukherjee and Ocheze Amuzie as part of a Big Local News journalism class at Stanford University. Eryn Davis, a data journalist and fellow with the Brown Institute for Media Innovation at Columbia University, helped develop DataTalk with Stanford University.