A Republican candidate vying for a Senate seat in Colorado has replaced a television ad in which he touted campaign promises to support the military — but featured images of Russian fighter jets.
The image in the now-deleted original ad for Joe O’Dea depicts Sukhoi jets that, based on their formation, appear to be flying in a Russian military parade, aviation experts told Roll Call. Spokespeople for O’Dea’s campaign issued an apology for the mistake shortly after, but not before Democratic critics denounced the ad as incompetency.
“This was an error, 100%. We own that. We also know, however, that voters care a hell of a lot more about Michael Bennet voting with Vladimir Putin, an authoritarian thug, when he voted against the bipartisan sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline this year,” O’Dea campaign spokesman Sage Naumann told the Washington Examiner in a statement.
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The image of fighter jets shooting across the sky is similar to several photos of military planes on Shutterstock, a stock image source often used for political ads. However, the mistake opens O’Dea’s campaign to fresh attacks from Democratic challengers seeking to keep the Senate seat in Democrats’ hands as Republicans vie to retake control of Congress in November.
Some Senate Democrats have already pounced on the opportunity, with the Senate Majority PAC calling the ad an example of negligence.
“Claiming to support our troops over footage of Russian fighter jets is a slap in the face to Colorado veterans, service members, and military families — not to mention the height of political negligence,” Veronica Yoo, spokeswoman for the PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, said in a statement obtained by the outlet.
O’Dea is set to face state Rep. Ron Hanks in the June primary to clinch the GOP nomination and challenge incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet. The first-time candidate was the first to qualify for the primary ballot at the beginning of April.
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With little name recognition in the state compared to Hanks, the O’Dea campaign spent about $250,000 to air the ads, according to Fox News. However, the campaign told the Washington Examiner it was able to switch that ad with a new version before it aired on TV that does not depict the Russian jets. That edition will run for the next three weeks.
The Republican primary in Colorado is thought to be an increasingly competitive election, as Republicans become more confident they can unseat the Democratic incumbent and pick up a seat in a blue state, according to FiveThirtyEight.
