Presidential contender Sen. Ted Cruz will run his first television ads this weekend during religious programming timed to coincide with the Easter holiday.
Cruz’s ad will air on Fox News during “Killing Jesus,” an adaptation of Bill O’Reilly’s book and in key primary states, viewers of NBC’s “A.D.: The Bible Continues” will see the first presidential ads of the 2016 election cycle. The Texas senator skipped the traditional exploratory committee phase and declared his candidacy last month, but he won’t be the only contender for long as other candidates are expected to announce their intentions in the coming weeks.
The ad itself focuses on how Cruz’s life and politics have been shaped by his faith. The ad buy – which will cost the Cruz campaign about $33,000 – is yet another indication that Cruz aims to woo Evangelicals and Christian conservatives in his bid for the White House.
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When Cruz announced his candidacy at the faith-based Liberty University he emphasized the need for mobilizing religious voters on Election Day. “Today, roughly half of born-again Christians aren't voting. They're staying home. Imagine instead millions of people of faith all across America coming out to the polls and voting our values,” he said.
Cruz has a strong following among the Christian right: he's won the straw poll at the annual Values Voter Summit two years in a row.