Vivek Ramaswamy STOPS TV ads in Iowa and New Hampshire with just 19 days until the caucuses to bets on ‘hyper-targeted’ texts and door-to-door canvassing
Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign is no longer spending on television advertising in the early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire, in an effort to refocus on the “best way to reach” the 2024 hopeful's supporters.
Amid reports of Ramaswamy halting TV ads in the states for the first caucus and first primaries, the campaign revealed that they are 'hyper-focusing' on other avenues such as texting, calling and door-to-door -recruitment.
“Our spending levels have not changed – we are just monitoring the data,” Ramaswamy's senior advisor and communications director Tricia McLaughlin told DailyMail.com.
Former President Donald Trump, in response to the reports, suggested that Ramaswamy will soon drop out of the race.
“I am confident he will endorse me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social the day after Christmas. “But Vivek is a good man, and he's not done yet!”
Biotech entrepreneur and 2024 hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy is halting television ad spending in Iowa and New Hampshire, saying his 'nimble' campaign found that texting, phone and door-to-door canvassing is a better way to reach his supporters in the first two primary states
The 38-year-old self-made millionaire is one of the most pro-Trump candidates running against the ex-president in the 2024 Republican primaries. He has refused to throw out his competitor, like many of his colleagues, and has often said that he was a good president.
Ramaswamy, a father of two and the youngest candidate to run for president, has said Washington needs a new generation of leaders as he makes the case for being the best in the Republican field.
His campaign says the Jan. 15 caucuses in Iowa will bring “major unrest” and denounces “political consultants who rely on traditional ad spending to line their pockets.”
With just 19 days until the Iowa caucuses kick off, Ramaswamy's campaign has decided it no longer makes sense to spend money on TV ads in New Hampshire's Hawkeye State, where the runoff will be held with the primaries on January 23. .
'We are focused on getting out to the voters we have identified – the best way to reach them is to use addressable advertising, mail, SMS, live calls and doors to communicate with our voters about Vivek's vision for America, by making their plan for caucus and turnaround. them out,” McLaughlin said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
She added: “As you know, most campaigns don't look like this. We deliberately structured this way so that we can be flexible and hyper-targeted in our ad spend.”
She assured that the campaign is still spending the same amount on advertising and outreach, but that the focus has shifted during the countdown to the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries.
“There was $190 million spent nationally on traditional advertising on this race,” McLaughlin said. 'The polls have hardly changed. We spend our money to identify the Vivek voter and how we spend that money to exclude them.”
Ramaswamy has spent the least on advertising overall among the remaining 2024 Republican candidates, with the exception of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
According to a November report, the millennial candidate and the PACs supporting him spent $8 million on television, digital and radio ads.
Trump posted a report on the pause in TV spending and suggested that Ramaswamy will soon drop out of the race and 'support me'
This is compared to Florida's top spender Governor Ron DeSantis, whose campaign and PACs spent $46 million on ads — with former President Donald Trump coming in next with $37 million.
The biggest focus so far is on Iowa as the New Year's caucuses quickly approach.
So far, more than $85 million has been pumped into the Hawkeye State from all candidates combined.
The next highest state spending at the end of November is $47.61 million in New Hampshire, followed by spending in South Carolina, where candidates spent just $6.6 million.
An earlier television ad rolling out Ramaswamy's campaign in Iowa just weeks before the caucuses showed him learning about the Constitution and conservative values from his childhood piano teacher.
Just 46 days before the caucuses, the campaign rolled out the ad that featured the Indian-American candidate's teacher playing “God Bless America” on her piano while a voiceover recalled how she taught him about American history.
Ramaswamy has proven to be a crowd favorite when it comes to entertainment.
His musical abilities were on display at the Iowa State Fair last summer when he broke into Eminem's rap “Lose Yourself” at the end of a sit-down Q&A with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.
A Financial Times analysis from November shows that 2024 candidates have spent a combined $250 million on TV, radio and digital advertising so far – with Ramaswamy spending the least among candidates still in the race, excluding Chris Christie and Ryan Binkley.