Tim Scott’s campaign places new $8 million ad buy in Iowa and New Hampshire

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is launching an $8 million ad buy in Iowa and New Hampshire, a senior campaign official tells NBC News, doubling down on an air-game-heavy strategy the campaign says it’s seeing pay off ahead of the first GOP debate.

The ads — which will run on TV, digital and radio — mark the second installment of a massive spending plan the campaign launched in May. The bulk of the latest buy is $6.6 million in ads to run through November, alongside six-figure radio and digital ad placements.

“As he prepares to take the debate stage, it is clear he not only is the best messenger and most consistent conservative in the race but also has the resources to win,” a senior Scott campaign official said on condition of anonymity.

The buy, which makes Scott the first 2024 contender to place ad reservations that extend past Labor Day, comes as Scott sees a slight polling increase in both Iowa and New Hampshire. Notably, this latest ad buy does not include airtime in his home state, South Carolina, where he trails in the polls to former President Donald Trump, the GOP nomination front-runner.

But the sheer size of the purchase underscores a long-touted Scott camp advantage: having cash on hand that almost immediately translated to the airwaves. That’s now starting to pay off. At a town hall in Iowa this week, audience members recited lines from his ads back to him.

“If you take out a loan …” Scott said. “You pay it back,” the crowd quoted back. “If you commit a violent crime …” said Scott. “You go to jail,” the crowd responded.

The new ad buy will complement existing ads placed in South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa by the super PAC supporting Scott’s campaign, Trust in the Mission PAC, or TIM PAC, which last month placed a $40 million TV and digital reservation in those key early primary states.

It’s also a reminder of the spending power of the campaign, which ended the second quarter with $21 million cash on hand — more than any of Scott’s 2024 rivals except Trump — and is among the few camps already on the airwaves.

Scott is likely to seek to highlight the ads’ largely optimistic messages on the debate stage next week in Milwaukee.

Alex Tabet and Jillian Frankel contributed.