U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., is deploying a new tool in his quest to fight back against Democratic challenger Russ Feingold and retain his seat in the Senate: Snapchat.
Johnson’s campaign announced Wednesday that they would deploy ads on the social media app on nine college campuses throughout the state, including UW-Madison. The ads will attack Feingold for his stint teaching at Stanford University after he lost to Johnson in 2010, and argue college students should instead support the former Oshkosh businessman in his re-election bid.
“Senator Feingold talks about helping students, but the truth is that he’s a highly paid college lecturer who is part of the problem – earning $8,000 per class at Stanford University,” spokesperson Brian Reisinger said in a statement. “Senator Feingold backed the big government programs that have driven up college costs, failed to fix this problem during his nearly two decades in Washington, and then lived off of high college costs.”
Johnson is in a tight re-election fight, trailing Feingold by four points, according to the most recent Marquette University Law School poll.
Other candidates have previously deployed Snapchat, with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley using the app during the presidential primaries to reach out to voters.
