Marco Rubio is making an overt play for evangelical voters in a new ad featuring the Republican presidential candidate discussing his Christian faith.
In the 30-second ad, the Florida senator speaks directly with the camera to share why Christianity is important to him spliced with footage of his family.
“The purpose of our life is to cooperate with God’s plan,” Rubio says in the ad. “To those who much as been given, much is expected. And we will be asked to account for that … I try to allow that to influence me in everything that I do.”
The Rubio campaign confirmed to CNN that the ad will run in Iowa, but it wouldn’t disclose the amount of the buy.
Rubio is attempting to compete with rivals Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump among Iowa’s potent evangelical voting bloc.
In the latest Quinnipiac University Iowa poll released December 14, Cruz leads the Hawkeye State with the evangelical vote at 34%. Trump comes in second with 24% support from evangelical voters and Rubio is third with 12%.
This is one of a series of ads videos Rubio’s campaign or his super PAC has released recently. Two other ads released this week show Rubio slamming former ally Chris Christie for his record in New Jersey and include him calling Christie “Obama’s favorite Republican governor.”
Rubio is not only firing hits but receiving them with a new Iowa ad from a super PAC backing Jeb Bush, which attacks him for missing votes in the Senate.
Additionally, another new video on Christie’s Twitter account points out to voters that Christie and Rubio used to have a positive relationship before the 2016 election.