The national nature of the race in the 13th Congressional District was on display last week as U.S. Rep. RODNEY DAVIS, R-Taylorville, was among GOP House members across the country whose districts were targeted by ads featuring veterans saying President DONALD TRUMP must be held accountable.
“I took an oath, so I put our country first,” says KYLE BIBBY, a former Marine Corps infantry captain from New Jersey who served in Afghanistan, in the ad that’s been playing in the Springfield-Champaign-Decatur market.
He then shows a picture of Davis and says: “Now we need him to stop putting politics ahead of our country, and hold the president accountable for risking our national security and abusing his office to benefit himself. Tell Congressman Davis to keep his oath (and) put country over politics, because no one is above the law.”
The group paying for the ad is Defend American Democracy, and its website indicates that households in the districts of 14 GOP House members are seeing the ads. The group says spending for the ad campaign nationwide is a seven-figure sum, so it’s at least $1 million. And, according to a news release, the people from the group will visit five House districts, with the 13th the only one in Illinois. […]
“This political ad makes it pretty clear that this impeachment has been about politics all along,” [Davis spokesperson Ashley Phelps] said. “I don’t think it’s at all a coincidence that every Republican seat where this ad is running is rated a potential pickup by Democrats. Congressman Davis joined bipartisan opposition to this impeachment inquiry, which didn’t happen in either Clinton or Nixon impeachments, because there’s no proof of a crime and he’s focused on issues that can improve the lives of the people he represents, not playing politics.”
According to Comcast, the group has purchased about $24K in cable ads which started November 7th and will run through November 13th. I don’t have broadcast numbers, if any. I saw the ad on ESPN during the football game last night.