Joe Ricketts, whose family owns the Chicago Cubs, is moving forward with plans to bankroll a major ad campaign to help Mitt Romney and Republican candidates.

Ricketts sparked a firestorm in May when The New York Times reported the billionaire was considering a controversial ad campaign against President Obama. The anti-Obama ad, since rejected, would have spotlighted the race-based rhetoric of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's former pastor.

The Wall Street Journal reports today that Ricketts will spend $12 million on ads starting this week, with $10 million to back Romney and $2 million to assist Republicans running for Congress.

The ads funded by Ricketts will feature ex-Obama supporters talking about Romney, a tactic that Romney used on his own in a video played at the GOP convention in Tampa. The WSJ says the ads will run in battlegrounds such as Wisconsin, Ohio, Virginia and Iowa.