CUNA Independently Sponsors Ads for Senators Locked in Close Contests

CUNA has begun digital advertising and direct mail initiatives in support of four senators – two Democrats and two Republicans – who are locked in tight reelection efforts this year, association officials announced Thursday.

The efforts are being made through independent expenditures that identified CUNA as the sponsor of the ads. They cannot be coordinated with the official campaigns of the candidates.

The exact amount that has been spent is not yet available; it was not reflected in CUNA’s most recent Federal Election Commission reports, which include campaign spending through the end of August.

The independent expenditures were in addition to the $7 million that CUNA and state credit union leagues were expected to spend in campaign contributions this year, CUNA officials said. NAFCU operates a much smaller political committee.

“We are strategically supporting credit union champions, regardless of their political affiliation,” Trey Hawkins, CUNA’s deputy chief advocacy officer for political action, said. “Champions who understand credit unions’ role in advancing their local communities, and who support policies that help credit unions better serve their millions of members.”

The four campaigns have been considered crucial for the Republicans to retain the Senate or for the Democrats to gain control. The supported candidates are:

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)

Collins has been considered one of the Senate’s most endangered Republicans up for reelection. Her opponent is Democrat Sara Gideon, speaker of the Maine House. One ad produced by CUNA features a senior citizen touting Collins’ support of the Senior Safe Act, a law that, among other things, encourages financial institutions to train employees to spot instances of financial exploitation of seniors and to report suspected incidents.

“Sen. Collins is top notch in my book,” the woman featured in the ad declares.

Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mt.)

Daines is locked in a tight race with Montana’s Democrat Governor, Steve Bullock. CUNA has paid for direct mail and digital ads supporting Daines. One digital ad on Daines’ behalf applauds his support for the Paycheck Protection Act, which the narrator states helped preserve jobs for the state’s small businesses. The ad concludes with the narrator saying, “From Montana, for Montana.”

Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.)

Peters is running for a second term against Republican John James in a state carried by President Trump in 2016.

CUNA created digital video ads and direct mail on behalf of the senator. One video ad applauds Peters for having taken COVID-19 seriously very early and having supported efforts to protect people from it.

Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.)

Smith, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, was appointed to her Senate seat in 2018 following the resignation of former Democratic Sen. Al Franken. She won a special election that year to complete Franken’s term.

This year, her opponent is Republican Jason Lewis.

CUNA is targeting the race with direct mail advertising and digital ads. In announcing the expenditures, CUNA did not release the contents of the ads in this race.