With COVID-19 keeping people at home, political campaigns have had to adjust to virtual campaigning and finding new ways to reach the public.

The Chuck Schumer-aligned Washington, D.C.-based dark money group, Senate Majority PAC, has now spent or reserved $3.3 million in ads over the course of 7 weeks in support of Theresa Greenfield, a source tells Iowa Field Report.

Last month, the group announced a million-dollar TV ad buy. Shortly after, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission “alleging [Greenfield’s] Senate campaign illegally coordinated with a super PAC affiliated with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.).”

Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Eddie Mauro, Kimberly Graham and Michael Franken have held events online open to the public such as Facebook Live Town Halls and Meet and Greets.

Unlike her opponents, Greenfield has the support of Washington Democrats like Schumer, the DSCC and special interest groups like Emily’s List. With that support, comes money. Greenfield seems to be relying heavily on the Schumer TV ads as her online efforts include retweeting old event photos, reading recommendations and pet pictures. 

However, according to a recent Des Moines Register poll, Greenfield may need to rethink this strategy. The poll found that the Democratic Senate field remains fairly unknown – despite the money spent benefiting Greenfield. While Greenfield’s name ID remains extremely low, of those who know her, about as many people have a negative view of her as they do positive.

With a little more than three weeks until early voting begins in Iowa, it remains to be seen whether Senate Majority PAC’s efforts to buy the election for Greenfield will be successful. Just today, The Washington Post reported that Senate Majority PAC has reserved an additional $13.1 million in TV ads in Iowa for this fall. However, they can cancel that buy if their candidate doesn’t make it past the June primary.