The House Republicans’ super PAC is on the attack in the special election for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District, with two new ads as part of its $1 million advertising buy.
Notably, the new spots from Congressional Leadership Fund present Republican nominee Troy Balderson as a pragmatic problem solver and don’t mention two political figures that have figured prominently in many campaign ads this election cycle: President Trump and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
One ad, titled “Education,” features MaryBeth Comfort, a former teacher and mother of six, discussing Balderson’s education record. The other spot, titled “Dishonest Danny,” charged Democratic nominee Danny O’Connor with misrepresenting his career in public service.
“This August, Ohio voters have a clear choice between Troy Balderson’s record of getting results for Ohio families and liberal Danny O’Connor, a no-show politician who is more interested in doing favors for his friends than delivering results,” CLF executive director Corry Bliss said in a statement.
Congressional Leadership Fund, aligned with outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is investing more than $100 million in the midterm elections to protect the precarious 24-seat House majority. Ohio’s 12th Congressional District is the kind of Republican-leaning suburban seat that Democrats hope to flip in the fall in their bid to neuter GOP control of Congress.
Districts with healthy populations of educated conservatives are less enamored of Trump than Republican seats in exurban or rural areas. Ohio’s 12th, near Columbus, was left vacant after Republican Pat Tiberi resigned from Congress to take a job in the private sector.
