Home Democrats’ marketing campaign arm strikes to defend its embattled chief

CNN  — 

The Home Democrats’ marketing campaign arm is swooping in to defend its chairman, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who’s dealing with a aggressive reelection race in New York’s seventeenth Congressional District after Republicans spent tens of millions to assault him.

With simply two weeks left till the midterm elections, the Democratic Congressional Marketing campaign Committee mentioned it could spend $605,000 to prop up Maloney, with a new ad slated to go up Tuesday hitting his Republican opponent Mike Lawler.

The advert’s narrator costs that “Lawler and MAGA extremists spend their time combating to ban abortion, not tackling crime or inflation, or bettering well being care.” The advert additionally tries to hyperlink Lawler to an antisemitic 2019 campaign ad from the Rockland County Republican Party, which Lawler has strongly denied. It ends with a photograph of Lawler surrounded by photos of Republican politicians, together with Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell, GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Home Minority Chief Kevin McCarthy.

In response, Invoice O’Reilly, a spokesman for Lawler, attacked Maloney as “determined.”

“Sean Maloney’s selfishness is aware of no bounds,” O’Reilly mentioned. “Mr. Maloney is now robbing cash from his fellow Democrats in a determined try to avoid wasting his personal cover.”

The Home Democratic marketing campaign arm determined to leap in after the Congressional Management Fund, which is aligned with Home GOP management, and the Nationwide Republican Congressional Committee poured tens of millions into the race. In an indication of the GOP’s momentum, the nonpartisan Prepare dinner Political Report lately shifted its ranking of the race from “lean Democrat” to “Toss Up.”

Democrats have spent over $8.3 million to promote within the race, whereas Republicans have spent over $5.6 million, in response to AdImpact information. Along with the $1 million it has already spent on the race, the Nationwide Republican Congressional Committee plans to make one other $867,000 advert purchase towards Maloney.

“Republicans are pouring effectively over $6 million to prop up MAGA Mike Lawler whose marketing campaign couldn’t compete by itself,” mentioned DCCC spokesperson Chris Taylor.

“Since day one, Chairman Maloney has been working tirelessly as a participant coach — He’s constructed a marketing campaign and we’ve constructed an operation on the DCCC that may assist that actuality,” Taylor added. “As now we have with each determination this cycle, we’re making investments that guarantee Democrats maintain our Home Majority.”

Earlier this spring, as Republicans first started telegraphing their plans to focus on Maloney, the DCCC chairman – who has outraised his opponent and has efficiently prevailed in aggressive races prior to now – told CNN he wasn’t worried concerning the GOP effort to defeat him and insisted that he doesn’t “see a state of affairs” the place social gathering sources would have to be spent on his personal reelection race.

“I don’t see a state of affairs the place that’s going to occur,” mentioned Maloney in April.

However the political atmosphere has deteriorated for Democrats within the closing stretch of the midterms. Maloney has mentioned he would recuse himself from any spending selections made by the committee about his personal seat.

Republicans, who’re giddy over the prospect of toppling the Democratic marketing campaign chief, wasted no time in taking credit score for the DCCC’s determination to make use of valuable sources defending Maloney.

“Frontline Democrats getting reduce off can thank Sean Patrick Maloney and his useless try to avoid wasting himself,” mentioned CLF communications director Calvin Moore. “Sean Patrick Maloney’s hubris is the rationale why he’s in a tricky race to start with and now it’s the rationale Democrats will lose extra seats in November.”