U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., will spend a whopping $6 million on commercial ads in key presidential primary states, despite not yet officially entering the race, a senior official on his team said Friday.
Scott will spend an initial $5.5 million to run television ads statewide in Iowa and New Hampshire through the first GOP presidential debate, the official told Fox News Digital. The sizable purchase includes broadcast TV, cable, satellite and radio.
The figure would be the largest purchase of any 2024 Republican presidential candidate to date.
Additionally, Scott will launch a seven-figure digital ad campaign through that period, the official said.
Scott has not yet joined the 2024 Republican primary, although he is expected to do so next week. He launched an exploratory committee for a potential bid in April when he said he would ‘never back down in defense of the conservative values that make America exceptional.’
The ad buy comes just ahead of a ‘special announcement’ Scott is scheduled to make at Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday, May 22.
The South Carolina school is Scott’s alma mater.
Despite not yet joining the race, Scott spent time in both Iowa and New Hampshire earlier this month.
The South Carolina senator hosted a town hall in Waukee, a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, on May 6. That same week, he also headlined a town hall at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire.
Scott has also held campaign-style events in South Carolina, which holds the third contest in the Republican presidential primary schedule.
‘I see that America is starving for positive, optimistic leadership,’ Scott told CBS News in April.
He also said he intends to be a unifying candidate who is focused on solutions more ‘than anything else.’ Scott added that he hopes to share the story of his own humble upbringing, which he says represents the importance of the American Dream.
‘I want to provide that alternative not to any specific candidate, but for the American people,’ Scott told the outlet. ‘The difference between me and others, I believe, is that my focus is on the fact that I used to be a kid who didn’t see a future. I used to be a kid that was angry about the cards that I was dealt. I was blessed by a mother who never surrendered. I was blessed by a mentor who always loved and supported my ideal self. And it’s because of those two individuals that I now have greater faith in the future for others.’
He continued: ‘And I see my responsibility of sharing the good news of who we can be because we have been. If we can unite this country around the solutions, focusing more on those solutions than anything else, it’s my only path forward, and it’s the one I’ve chosen.’
The South Carolina senator is also a ferocious fundraiser, who would enter the race with roughly $22 million in his campaign coffer – something that could make him stand out in a growing field of Republican candidates.
Several Republicans have already launched bids to be their party’s nominee, including frontrunner and former President Donald Trump, who announced his intention to seek the presidency for a third time immediately after the November elections last year.
Former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who shares allies and donors with Scott, has also already launched a 2024 presidential campaign.
Larry Elder, who challenged Gavin Newsom for the California governorship, also joined the race earlier this month, as well as former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence have not yet officially joined the race, but they are expected to do so.
On the Democratic side, President Biden officially announced his re-election campaign and has said he intends to keep Vice President Kamala Harris as his running mate.
He is being challenged by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
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