By james art Kamala Harris will begin running an ad in the Las Vegas Sphere starting Thursday, according to a presidential campaign press release Tuesday. It’s the first time a political campaign has advertised on Sphere and is part of an intense get-out-the-vote effort as polls in Nevada show Harris in a dead heat against neo-fascist Donald Trump.
The $2.3 billion Sphere opened in late 2023, and in addition to being a concert venue, it also has 580,000 square feet of LED displays that can play advertising materials. Advertising on Sphere reportedly costs about $450,000 a day, but campaigns that buy a full week can get a discount. Big days in Las Vegas, such as New Year’s Eve, can fetch daily advertising rates of up to $1-2 million, according to PR Week. It’s unclear how much the ads cost Harris’ campaign.
Harris’ red-white-and-blue ad is available on YouTube and displays messages such as “vote for freedom” and “vote for opportunity” along with a photo of the vice president. The message “when we fight we win” also flashes along with the words “when we vote we win”.
A political pin with the words “vote for reproductive freedom” is also featured in the ad, a message Democrats believe will help people vote. The 2022 midterm elections saw massive turnout for Democrats up and down the ballot, largely due to the US Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, which allowed women to make choices about their own bodies.
Trump, a convicted felon who spews racist garbage at every opportunity, appointed three of the justices who helped overturn Roe and previously bragged about killing abortion rights in the country, though he sometimes tries to distance himself from that position publicly , because it is so unpopular.
Nevada’s averages couldn’t be closer if they tried. The FiveThirtyEight average for the state currently has Trump up 0.2% over Harris. The Democrat previously had a 1.2 percent lead in the state at the end of August.
Nevada is one of seven states heavily carried by both campaigns where FiveThirtyEight’s average margins are similarly low, including Wisconsin (+0.1% Harris), Pennsylvania (+0.3% Trump), Michigan ( +0.7% Harris), North Carolina (+1.2% Trump), Georgia (+1.5% Trump) and Arizona (+1.8% Trump).
“In the days leading up to Election Day, the Harris-Waltz team is doing everything they can to get voters to the polls,” Harris’ campaign said in a press release Tuesday. “In Nevada, the Sphere activation will be an important part of our efforts, which also includes front page acquisitions of leading newspapers, mobile billboards in Reno, Carson City and Las Vegas.”
“The campaign also invested in remote radio stations and food trucks near early voting locations, organized Get Out The Vote community block parties, and ensured strong attendance at local events like the East Las Vegas Cavalcade Horse Parade.”
Harris will appear in Nevada on Thursday. Election day is Tuesday, November 5.