Campaign Almanac: Ron DeSantis campaign launches first Iowa ad

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's campaign will begin airing its first TV advertisement on Thursday, increasing spending and accelerating the ad buy that was originally set to begin later this month.

The campaign had originally reserved $2 million in advertising to begin on Nov. 14, according to NBC News. The ad campaign will run through caucus night on Jan. 15.

The campaign's "strong fundraising pace in the fourth quarter has allowed it to begin television advertising weeks earlier than originally planned," the campaign said in a news release.

The ad highlights DeSantis' responses to crises and disasters, including his efforts to evacuate Americans from Israel and rebuilding after a hurricane.

"He will fight for you, he will win for us, and he will lead America's comeback," the narrator of the ad says.

"No leader in the country has a stronger record of securing victories for the conservative movement than Ron DeSantis," campaign manager James Uthmeier said in a statement. "From sending planes to Israel to bring Americans home to safety, to rebuilding bridges in the days following a hurricane, there is no better leader in a time of crisis."

Family Leader to host Thanksgiving Family Forum

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The conservative evangelical organization the Family Leader has invited five Republican presidential candidates to attend speak at the 2023 Presidential Thanksgiving Family Forum this month.

Former President Donald Trump, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott have been invited to the forum.

The organization described the event, scheduled for Nov. 17 at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown, as a "family discussion with presidential candidates. The Family Leader held similar forums in 2011 and 2015.

"The Thanksgiving FAMiLY Forum gives us a chance to see what's in the candidates' hearts, not just what's in their plans," Family Leader CEO Bob Vander Plaats said in a statement. "And coming shortly before the holiday season, it may be the last, best chance to really understand what makes these leaders tick before Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses."

Haley super PAC ad focuses on China

SFA Fund, the super PAC backing former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, released an ad on Wednesday that calls Haley the "conservative China fears most."

The ad includes clips from Haley's events and media interviews, including a clip of Haley saying China will "end up on the ash heap of history."

"We know that the United States will be safer, stronger, and more secure when Ambassador Nikki Haley is elected president next November," SFA Fund spokesperson Brittany Yanick said in a statement.