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A new dark-money group is airing a TV ad featuring footage of the Uvalde gunman, stirring controversy in the governor’s race.
The group, No It Couldn’t LLC, released the 30-second commercial Wednesday morning and has since started running it on TV as part of a small ad buy with limited reach. As of Thursday morning, the group had roughly $29,000 reserved on cable TV through Sunday, according to the media-tracking firm AdImpact.
Voting FAQ: 2024 Elections
When is the next election? What dates do I need to know?
Election Day for the general election is November 5, and early voting will run from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1. The deadline to register to vote and/or change your voter registration address is Oct. 7. Applications to vote by mail must be received by your county of residence – not postmarked – by Oct. 25.
What’s on the ballot for the general election?
In addition to the president, eligible Texans have the opportunity to cast their ballots for many Texas officials running for office at the federal, state and local levels.
This includes representatives in the U.S. and Texas houses and the following elected offices:
-1 U.S Senator (Ted Cruz)
– 1 of 3 Railroad Commissioners
– 15 State Senators
– 7 State Board of Education members
– 3 members of the Texas Supreme Court
– 3 members of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
– 5 Chief Justices and various justices for Texas Courts of Appeals
Lower-level judges and local county offices will also appear on the ballot:
– Various district judges, including on criminal and family courts
– County Courts at Law
– Justices of the Peace
– District Attorneys
– County Attorneys
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– Tax Assessor-Collectors
How do I make sure I’m registered to vote?
You can check to see if you’re registered and verify your information through the Texas Secretary of State’s website. You’ll need one of the following three combinations to log in: Your Texas driver’s license number and date of birth. Your first and last names, date of birth and county you reside in. Your date of birth and Voter Unique Identifier, which appears on your voter registration certificate.
What if I missed the voter registration deadline?
You must be registered to vote in a Texas county by Oct. 7 to vote in the Nov. 5 presidential election. You can still register for other elections.
If you’re registered but didn’t update your address by the deadline, you may still be able to vote at your previous voting location or on a limited ballot. (Voters are typically assigned precincts based on where they live. In most major counties, voters can vote anywhere on Election Day, but some counties require you vote within your precinct. If that is the case, you may have to return to your previous precinct. See which counties allow countywide Election Day voting here. You can usually find your precinct listed on your voter registration certificate or on when checking your registration online.)
If you moved from one county to another, you may be able to vote on a ballot limited to the elections you would qualify to vote in at both locations, such as statewide races. However, limited ballots are only available during early voting. Find your county election official here and contact them to ask about or request a limited ballot.
What can I do if I have questions about voting?
You can contact your county elections official or call the Texas Secretary of State’s helpline at 1-800-252-VOTE (8683). A coalition of voting rights groups is also helping voters navigate election concerns through the 866-OUR-VOTE (687-8683) voter-protection helpline. The coalition also has hotlines available for voters who speaker other languages or have accessibility needs.
For help in Spanish, call 888-VE-Y-VOTA or 888-839-8682.
For help in Asian languages, call 888-API-VOTE or 888-274-8683.
For help in Arabic, call 888-YALLA-US or 888-925-5287.
For help in American Sign Language through a video, call 301-818-VOTE or 301-818-8683.
For help from Disability Rights Texas, call 888-796-VOTE or 888-796-8683.
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The 30-second spot shows Gov. Greg Abbott predicting in 2021 that there would not be “any bad side effect” to the permitless carry law that he signed into law later that year. Then, for the next 15 seconds, the ad shows video of the Uvalde gunman walking through a hallway before turning toward a classroom door, at which point gunfire is heard.
The law that Abbott signed only applied to handguns; the permitless carry of rifles, like those used by the Uvalde gunman, was already legal.
The ad begins with a screen saying, “WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT,” and YouTube has since added its own content warning to the video.
The group is at least the second dark-money organization to air TV ads in the race, following the similarly named Coulda Been Worse LLC. However, Coulda Been Worse has made a far larger effort, spending millions of dollars on weeks of TV ads targeting not only Abbott but also Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton. Such groups are set up to conceal the source of their funding, which was generally made possible by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision.
The latest dark-money ad drew swift pushback from state Rep. Dustin Burrows, the Lubbock Republican who chairs the House’s investigative committee on the Uvalde shooting.
“It is completely irresponsible to use a mass shooter’s name or image,” Burrows tweeted. “Doing so gives them what they sought in the first place — notoriety. It also inspires others to copy cat their evil. I strongly condemn those who continue to do this with reckless abandon.”
Abbott’s campaign declined to comment.
Asked Thursday about the ad, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke said he had not seen it. But he said it is vital for voters to understand Abbott “hasn’t done a single thing” to prevent another school shooting.
“I can’t think of a more important issue for us,” O’Rourke said after a get-out-the-vote stop in San Antonio. “I want voters to know this is on the ballot.”
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O’Rourke has previously said any dark-money group involved in the race should voluntarily disclose its donors.
Not all Democrats were pleased with the ad. At least one Democratic statewide campaign has privately expressed frustration with the spot, saying ad money should not be spent elevating the gunman over the victims’ families. O’Rourke has focused his Uvalde-themed ads on the families.
No It Couldn’t, like the other dark-money group Coulda Been Worse, is set up as an LLC in Delaware, a state notorious for its lax disclosure laws. Delaware records show the group was formed just 10 days ago.
Advertising forms filed with the Federal Communication Commission identify “Commercial Space Experts” as the buyer for No It Couldn’t LLC. Little is known about the entity, but it shares an Austin address with Hulsen Media Services, a Democratic firm.
A phone number linked to Commercial Space Experts on the FCC forms went to voicemail Tuesday. A person picked up at a second phone number listed in the FCC forms but hung up after a reporter explained they were inquiring about No It Couldn’t LLC.
The group’s ad-buying has flummoxed political observers. It initially bought broadcast time and then canceled within two days, according to AdImpact. The $29,000 in cable time is paltry compared with the scale of TV advertising being done by the Abbott and O’Rourke campaigns.
Nonetheless, the group sought to portray itself as a serious player in news releases sent Wednesday and Thursday to reporters. It said Wednesday the ad was “currently airing across Texas” and said Thursday the spot was running in “more markets across Texas.” The news releases were sent from an email address registered with ProtonMail, an encrypted email provider that is common with senders who want to remain anonymous.
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