By Todd Stacy, Alabama Daily News
The first super PAC of the Alabama Senate race has arrived.
Alabama Conservatives Fund, which supports former Business Council of Alabama President Katie Britt’s candidacy, launched this week and is planning a series of advertising spots touting the Republican from Enterprise.
The group is planning six-figure ad buys each on broadcast, cable and digital television platforms, seeking to “penetrate likely republican primary voters at a significant rate” in the Montgomery, Birmingham, Huntsville and Mobile media markets.
Dalton Dismukes, a political consultant who has run many state and federal campaigns, is the executive director of Alabama Conservatives Fund. He said the idea is to lend air support to Britt’s candidacy before her own campaign starts running television ads.
“We are excited to launch our first TV ad of the 2022 cycle to help Alabama voters see the strength, character, and values of Katie Britt,” Dismukes told Alabama Daily News. “We know that this Senate race is just beginning and the voters of Alabama are looking for new leadership. Our goal is to help introduce Katie Britt to those voters and have them see what a fighter she is for farmers, for our military, and for Christian values.”
Super PACs are technically called independent expenditure-only political committees. Under federal campaign rules, super PACs can raise and spend unlimited funds to influence a political race but cannot coordinate their activities with a campaign they are supporting.
Given the high-profile nature of the race to replace retiring U.S. Sen, Richard Shelby, super PACs supporting and opposing candidates have long been expected. So far, Alabama Conservatives Fund is the only such entity set up to support a candidate.
There is no super PAC yet set up to support Congressman Mo Brooks, widely considered the frontrunner in the race, but he is expected to see considerable help from Club for Growth, a Washington-based political group that has been heavily involved in Alabama races of late.