GOP group launches 6-figure ad buy targeting Lee on impeachment vote
Freshman Democratic Rep. Susie Lee is once again the target of a well-funded ad campaign looking to pressure the congresswoman over her decision to vote in favor of impeaching President Donald Trump last month.
This new, $275,000 ad buy is the third such effort from the American Action Network, an outside group with ties to Republican leadership in the House. The ads, running both on TV and online, show a woman criticizing Lee for her “disappointing” decision to vote for impeachment instead of focusing on issues including the opioid crisis and border security.
The attack has long been a staple of Republicans looking to press Lee — a moderate Democrat representing a swing district that narrowly broke for Trump in 2016 — on her support for the party line on impeachment. For her part, Lee has pushed back on such attacks, pointing to her involvement with the so-called “Problem Solvers Caucus,” as well as votes on a number of health-policy bills in the waning days of 2019.
Of all of Nevada’s races in 2020, none have drawn attention — or money — like the race for Lee’s District 3. Both national parties have already sought to invest heavily in control of the seat, and Lee’s own campaign committee reportedly raised more than $600,000 in the last quarter of 2019 alone, pushing her campaign war chest past $1.5 million heading into the new year.
Though Lee secured a 9-point victory in 2018, District 3 — which encompasses the southern half of Clark County, including much of Las Vegas and all of Henderson — has long switched between the two major parties. During the last presidential election cycle, it broke toward then-Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen by a margin of just 1 percentage point, and before that was held by two-term Republican Rep. Joe Heck.
Still, no clear Republican challenger has as-yet emerged, and just two Republicans, former Treasurer Dan Schwartz and ex-pro wrestler Dan Rodimer, have continued to actively campaign in the district’s Republican primary.
Watch the ad here.