--- title: Pro-Trump Group Launches Ads for Brett Kavanaugh Nomination description: A Pro-Trump Super PAC has launched its first series of digital advertisements canonical: https://time.com/5335921/brett-kavanaugh-ads/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-11T18:27:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T18:49:41.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Pro-Trump Group Launches Ads for Brett Kavanaugh Nomination og:description: The ads target Senators Heitkamp, Manchin and Donnelly og:url: https://time.com/5335921/brett-kavanaugh-ads/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d7ca23d4fbbb8be/698934f40a4a224fb29d325e/supreme-court-nomination-brett-kavanaugh.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5568 og:image:height: 3132 og:image:alt: Supreme-Court-Brett-Kavanaugh-Salary og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pro-Trump Group Launches Ads for Brett Kavanaugh Nomination twitter:description: The ads target Senators Heitkamp, Manchin and Donnelly twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d7ca23d4fbbb8be/698934f40a4a224fb29d325e/supreme-court-nomination-brett-kavanaugh.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pro-Trump Group Launches Ads Urging Red State Democrats to Confirm Brett Kavanaugh > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Updated: Dec 12, 2023 6:49 PM UTCPublished: Jul 11, 2018 6:27 PM UTC  Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh (L) speaks as US President Donald Trump listens after he announced his nomination in the East Room of the White House on July 9, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh (L) speaks as US President Donald Trump listens after he announced his nomination in the East Room of the White House on July 9, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) MANDEL NGAN—AFP/Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Updated: Dec 12, 2023 6:49 PM UTCPublished: Jul 11, 2018 6:27 PM UTC A Pro-Trump non-profit group has launched its first in a series of digital advertisements urging the three “red state” Democrats who supported Neil Gorsuch’s nomination for the Supreme Court to now back the President’s latest nominee, [Brett Kavanaugh](http://time.com/5334098/donald-trump-brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court/). The group, America First Policies, [is launching the ads Wednesday](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP6KTe8z8cA&feature=youtu.be) in the home states of North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, and Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly. President Trump won all of their states by double digits in 2016, and all three lawmakers are up for reelection this year. The 30-second ads feature Trump introducing Kavanaugh in the White House Monday, followed by Kavanaugh’s remarks accepting the nomination in which he discusses the need to preserve the U.S. Constitution. “Tell \[Senator Heitkamp, Manchin, Donnelly\] to confirm Kavanaugh,” the ad concludes while displaying each of their office’s phone numbers. The ads, which cost approximately $150,000 each, are the initial step in America First Policy’s seven-figure campaign to support Kavanaugh. It is yet another indication of how costly the fight will be over his confirmation will be, given the partisan divisions in the Senate. While Republicans currently have a 51-49 majority — one more then they need to confirm Kavanaugh — it is unlikely that Sen. John McCain, who has been absent from the floor while he battles brain cancer, will return for a vote. If Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is able to hold the Democrats together to form a unified opposition, Republicans will need every member of their caucus to vote for the nominee (that includes Vice President Mike Pence, who would serve as a tiebreaker.) With such little room for defection, groups on both sides of the aisle have targeted different Senators who might make or break the nomination. Liberals have honed in on Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski and Maine Senator Susan Collins on the hopes that their support for abortion can persuade them to vote against Kavanaugh, who is seen as an opponent of abortion rights. Republicans, meanwhile, have largely targeted Manchin, Donnelly, and Heitkamp, betting that their electoral prospects could coerce them into bucking party loyalty. (Other Senators facing similar predicaments, like Montana’s Jon Tester and Florida’s Bill Nelson, have also been added to this list). Right now, all three lawmakers targeted in the ad [have been mum](http://time.com/5335011/heres-what-the-key-senators-think-about-brett-kavanaugh-right-now/) on which way they will vote, despite Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowing to oppose Kavanaugh “with everything I have.” “I don’t have a lean. I think he seems to be a very fine person of high moral standards,” Manchin said on a West Virginia radio show Wednesday. “We have to just look at making sure that the rule of law and the Constitution is going to be followed, and that’s going to basically preempt anything else he does.” **Correction July 11** The original version of this story misstated America First Policies’ organizational status. 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