Chris Collins campaign reserves TV ad time during Super Bowl for CD 19 run

Congressional candidate Chris Collins has reserved ad time during the Super Bowl to reach voters in Florida’s 19th Congressional District.

Collins, one of several Republicans in the running to succeed U.S. Byron Donalds, launched his first TV ad spots this week, with 15- and 30-second slots across broadcast TV, cable and connected TV/streaming platforms districtwide. He specifically reserved time in the NFL playoffs, where the ads will debut. The campaign said it was making a six-figure reservation.

Donalds, a Naples Republican, is not seeking re-election and is instead running for Governor.

Collins previously served in Congress representing a district in New York. He was the first sitting member of Congress to endorse Trump’s successful 2016 run for President. The ad identified Collins as the “original Trump conservative,” a message he amplifies in the spot.

“I helped President Trump start the fight in 2016, and I’m running for Congress to help him finish it,” Collins said. “That means securing our borders once and for all, setting our economy up for generations of success, and defending our constitutional freedoms from radical socialist Democrats. I’m ready to get back in the ring for our President to deliver his agenda for the families of Southwest Florida and future generations.”

Collins resigned from Congress early as he faced insider trading charges. Trump later pardoned Collins shortly before the end of his term.

The spot includes praise from Trump at one of his own rallies.

“Chris Collins, right from the beginning he said Trump was going to win,” Trump said in the video. “Now I love him.”

The longer spot features Collins from news interviews promoting Trump’s message. “We need to take our country back,” he says in one spot. “We need to make America Great Again.”

Collins, a manufacturing entrepreneur before his time in office, now lives in Collier County with wife Mary. He has lived in Southwest Florida for nearly a decade, he said.

While he has yet to open a candidate account with the Federal Election Commission, a Collins for Congress committee was established in July. The committee paid for the ad time.