The Congressional Leadership Fund plans to pour more than $1 million into a new advertising campaign targeting Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. The effort is part of an ongoing strategy by Republicans to deny Democrats control of the House and keep their thin majority intact in November. It also reflects GOP hopes that focusing on Tlaib’s incendiary rhetoric could help peel off moderate voters in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, which Trump won by less than 5 percentage points in 2016.
Republican-allied group to spend $1M on ad buy targeting Michigan Democrat.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is spending $1 million on a digital ad buy targeting Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib.
The ad buy is part of a $67 million campaign to defeat Democrats in Congress and win control of the House, as well as state legislatures and governorships.
The NRCC also announced Monday that it will spend over $100,000 on mailers targeting two other progressive freshmen: Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) and Rep.-elect Ayanna Pressley (MA).
The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with House Republican leadership, plans to launch a $1 million ad campaign in Michigan to help oust Democratic Rep., the first Muslim woman to serve in Congress and a member of the progressive “Squad.”
The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with House Republican leadership, plans to launch a $1 million ad campaign in Michigan to help oust Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first Muslim woman to serve in Congress and a member of the progressive “Squad.”
The ad blasts Tlaib for comments she made about U.S. immigration policy during an interview with Yahoo News last month, which included saying that Americans have “no right” to their land because it was stolen through genocide and colonization. “As far as I’m concerned, they can go back home,” she said of Europeans who came here centuries ago by force or coercion (notably excluding those who were brought over as slaves).
The ad will run TV and digital platforms between now and Election Day.
The ad will run TV and digital platforms between now and Election Day. It will paint Tlaib as an ally of Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who have been accused of anti-Semitism, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), who has been criticized for making statements that some considered dismissive of police officers’ experiences.
The three members of the “Squad” came together in 2019 to form a political bloc that opposed President Trump’s agenda: Omar was elected to Congress from Minnesota; Pressley from Massachusetts; Ocasio Cortez from New York City; and Rashida Tlaib took over her late father’s seat representing Detroit after winning a special election last year.”
Conclusion
Republicans have long believed that, if they can’t beat Tlaib by betting on the moderate candidate in the Democratic primary, they might have a shot at beating her in November. Republicans who spoke to POLITICO on condition of anonymity acknowledged that their candidate has not been able to raise enough money for an effective campaign. They also cited recent polling showing Biden with a double-digit lead over Trump in Michigan as evidence of vulnerability for Tlaib.
