The Communications Workers of America (CWA) launched a six-figure digital advertising campaign on Monday aimed at winning Gigi Sohn’s confirmation to the FCC. Amid the $65 billion investment in national broadband deployment secured through Infrastructure Law, CWA asserts in the ads that “dark money corporate groups” have sought to block Sohn’s confirmation in an effort to stave off Commission actions that would help ensure all Americans have reliable and affordable access to broadband.
The CWA ads come a week after a political advocacy group calling itself “The One Country Project” launched a $250,000 social media ad campaign meant to block Sohn’s Senate confirmation, Inside Towers reported. The group, headed by former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), was set to run for three weeks starting over the congressional recess. It accused Sohn of dismissing rural America, pointing to comments in which the nominee accused policymakers of “disproportionately” steering broadband dollars to those communities and giving urban dwellers the short shrift, noted Politico.
“Gigi Sohn has long been a strong advocate on behalf of consumer broadband access, a supporter of workers in the telecommunications and technology industries, and a proponent for an open, free, and fair internet,” said CWA Senior Director of Government Affairs and Policy Shane Larson in a press release. “The delay in her confirmation makes it harder for the FCC to serve the American people, which is how the corporations that the agency is meant to regulate like it. It’s past time for the Senate to confirm her so that the FCC can have a full complement of Commissioners and get to work.”
The CWA ads will run on Facebook, as well as news websites across Arizona, West Virginia, and Nevada. Why those states? While Sohn has the backing of a majority of Democratic legislators, including the leadership of the House Energy & Commerce Committee and Senate Commerce Committee, Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Catherin Cortez Masto (D-NV) are viewed as key swing votes on Sohn’s nomination.
Sohn’s nomination has yet to be discharged from the Senate Commerce Committee. The panel was tied along party lines on recommending that the full Senate confirm her, Inside Towers reported. Now the full Senate must discharge the nomination from the committee before it can vote to confirm or deny, notes Multichannel News.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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