Campaign ad urges black Missourians to vote for McCaskill, block Trump

A radio ad supporting U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill seeks to mobilize black voters over issues such as health care and voting rights — and against President Donald Trump — after an affiliated nonprofit helped register tens of thousands of predominantly black voters this summer.

BlackPAC, a political action committee backed by Democrats, has spent more than $72,000 buying radio air time for its ad encouraging voters to support McCaskill in the midterm election to “block Trump’s biased agenda.”

“Trump and the Republican Congress have taken us backwards on racial justice and women’s issues,” the ad says, “and the recent Supreme Court confirmation represents a dangerous threat to our rights and protections. But we have the power to stop them.”

The effort to turn out black voters for McCaskill comes after the Black Progressive Action Coalition — a nonprofit affiliate of BlackPAC — funded a nonpartisan effort, run by a coalition of nonprofits, to register more than 87,000 predominantly black voters in Missouri. McCaskill has worked to combat a notion she hasn’t done enough to reach out to African-American voters.

The ad presents McCaskill as a vote against Trump as she tries to campaign as an independent Democrat who doesn’t toe the party line. It’s one of many ads run by outside groups in the tight race between McCaskill and her Republican challenger, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley.

Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of BlackPAC, said in a statement that BlackPAC is “dedicated to mobilizing Black voters in support of issues that affect their daily lives, like protecting health care, raising the minimum wage, and safeguarding voting rights.”

“The results of this year’s mid-term elections will deeply impact the black communities and the issues facing our community, including the outcome of US Senate races,” Shropshire said. “To that end, we will be using our resources both on the airwaves and on the ground, to support candidates who share that agenda, both in Missouri and across the nation.”

BlackPAC’s largest donor is Majority Forward, a 501(c)(4) organization with links to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

McCaskill will need votes from moderates and progressives to win in a state Trump carried by 19 points. She’s been touting times she has found common ground with Trump and distancing herself from what she calls “crazy Democrats” — whom she described as anyone who would yell at a public official in a restaurant or paint swastikas on Hawley’s yard signs.

“Claire has also been clear that she will stand up to anyone, or work with anyone, when it’s right for Missouri,” her campaign spokesman Eric Mee said in an email. “She has had over 35 bipartisan bills that she helped to draft, sponsored, or cosponsored signed into law by President Trump — but she’s also stood up to him on issues such as protecting Missourians with pre-existing conditions and family separation.”

In a statement, Hawley’s campaign spokeswoman Kelli Ford said “BlackPAC is right.”

“Senator McCaskill does oppose President Trump on judges, border security, tax cuts and winning better trade deals,” Ford said. “If she wins, she’ll ignore Missouri and give control of the Senate to those ‘crazy Democrats’ in Washington.”

McCaskill’s campaign says she’s supported more than two-thirds of Trump’s judicial nominees. She voted against Supreme Court justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

Earlier this month, campaign ads supporting Hawley alluded to lynchings and claimed McCaskill, who supports abortion rights, doesn’t care about black babies when pregnancies are terminated and only cares about black people who can vote for her. Hawley’s campaign denounced the ads, which it did not produce.

BlackPAC is running the ad as an outside spender, meaning McCaskill’s campaign did not play a part in developing it or approve it.

McCaskill has been an outspoken critic of outside spending and argues campaigns should be rid of unlimited dark money. She has repeatedly said voters should ignore ads not run by her campaign.

The Missouri Senate race has been one of the most expensive campaigns in terms of outside spending, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Last spring, McCaskill told constituents in Parkville to ignore advertisements not approved by a campaign.

“I don’t care if it’s an ad paid for by ‘We Love America’ or ‘We Hate Taxes’ or ‘Motherhood and Apple Pie.’ I don’t care if the ad is telling you I’m the best thing since sliced bread,” McCaskill said. “I don’t care if the ad is for me or against me. If it doesn’t say paid for by either Claire McCaskill or the name of the Republican nominee and ‘I approved this message,’ ignore it all. Don’t pay attention to any of it. Even if it’s supposed to be helping me, I want you to ignore it.”