Progressive veterans group VoteVets Action Fund is launching a $1.6 million ad buy in Iowa targeting Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ashley Hinson’s support of the war in Iran as Democrats seek to flip the seat in November.
The spending, which comes alongside VoteVets’ PAC’s hefty advertising investment for Democratic candidate Josh Turek, is part of the group’s national effort to leverage what they argue are negative effects of the war, including rising gas and fertilizer prices, against Republican candidates such as Hinson.
“The war in Iran has cost families and farmers in Iowa and across our country dearly, making basic necessities like gas and fertilizer much more expensive,” VoteVets senior adviser Max Rose said in a statement. “Despite that, Ashley Hinson has sided against Iowans by voting five times to continue the war, which has been dangerous and expensive. We are launching this effort to hold her accountable for voting to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on foreign wars instead of on lowering costs and helping Americans at home.”
The new ad will run on television over the next three weeks in the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids markets and will be accompanied by digital advertising, according to the group. Spending includes $1.3 million in television ads and $300,000 on digital ads.
“Five times Hinson’s voted in favor of the War in Iran even though no one’s been hit harder than Iowa. Record gas prices. Record fertilizer costs. Farms going under. And Ashley Hinson’s voting for all of it in Washington,” a voice says over clips of Hinson speaking.
Hinson, who represents Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, gained attention in June after calling the war a “political liability” if it drags on during a Webster County meet-and-greet on May 28, Politico reported. Shortly after, the congresswoman said she opposes “endless wars” but supports Trump’s efforts to negotiate an end with Iran.
She voted against a resolution that passed the U.S. House June 3 seeking to block further hostilities in Iran.
VoteVets’ spending in the closely watched Iowa U.S. Senate race, rated by multiple political pundits as a “toss-up,” is expected to be one of many outside investments as money pours in to boost Hinson in Turek.
The seat is open for the first time since 2014 after Iowa Republican U.S Sen. Joni Ernst decided not to seek a third term.
This isn’t the group’s first big spend in Iowa this election cycle.
In the lead-up to Iowa’s June 2 primary, VoteVets’ PAC, which backs Democratic veterans, spent more than $10 million elevating Turek, a state representative. The amount eclipsed the $654,000 Turek brought in between April 1 and May 13.
Turek is not a military veteran but was born with spina bifida, which he says is from his father’s exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam.
Hinson is linking VoteVet’s backing of Turek to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, referring to it as one of many “Democrat dark money groups” lining up to oppose her.
“We’re going to hold this U.S. Senate seat and send the message to Washington, D.C. that Iowa is not for sale,” Hinson said during the Iowa GOP’s Lincoln Dinner fundraiser July 10. “We’ve seen this story before. Chuck Schumer is ready to spend unlimited amounts of money here in Iowa. In fact, he spent more than $10 million through a super PAC to try to get his preferred candidate across the finish line. That’s more than he spent on any other candidate in the entire country, so that’s a pretty good signal of what they’re willing to do to try to take this seat back.”
The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC that elects Republicans to the U.S. Senate, has pledged to spend $29 million on Hinson’s behalf beginning this summer.
Rapid Response Politics Reporter Maya Marchel Hoff can be reached at mmarchelHoff@registermedia.com. You can find her on X (formerly Twitter) at @mmarchelhoff.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Exclusive: VoteVets airs $1.6M in ads targeting Hinson Iran war votes
Reporting by Maya Marchel Hoff, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Maya Marchel Hoff, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
