The Hillary Clinton campaign released a new gun control ad Wednesday featuring the daughter of the principal killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting.
In the 60-second ad titled “My Mom,” Erica Smegielski tells the story of how she lost her mother in the deadly shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Her mother, Dawn Hochsprung, was one of the first of 26 gunned down on Dec. 14, 2012.
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“My wedding was one of the last things I planned with my mom,” Smegielski says in the ad’s opening. “It was a very bittersweet day, because it’s just all one big reminder of the giant hole where she used to be.”
As photos of Smegielski and her mother flash on screen, she says her mom was “my best friend.”
“My mom was murdered while trying to protect the children in her care from a gunman,” she continues in the ad, adding that “no more families should have to go through what we have.”
Smegielski remarks that Clinton is “the only candidate that has what it takes to take on the gun lobby,” while text of a March article about Clinton challenging the gun lobby flashes over a video of Clinton speaking. She also said Clinton reminds her of her mother.
“She isn’t scared of anything, and that’s how I know that she is the person that can actually make a difference,” Smegielski says of Clinton. “That’s why I believe in her. That’s why millions of other Americans believe in her. There’s finally someone who can change things.”
According to the Hartford-Courant, the ad is being aired in the Hartford-New Haven market, in Rhode Island and on cable in Fairfield County, where Sandy Hook is located.
Clinton closed her victory speech Tuesday night after winning the New York primary with a tribute to Smegielski, who was seen in the crowd visibly crying.
“She’d never been in politics before. But she has made it her mission to advocate for common-sense gun safety reform,” Clinton said to cheers. “You know, like the mothers of Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin and so many others, Erica has turned her sorrow into a strategy and her mourning into a movement.”
Smegielski, along with others effected by gun violence, is set to join Clinton for a campaign event in Hartford on Thursday.
According to a new poll released Wednesday, Clinton has a commanding lead in Connecticut over rival Bernie Sanders, who she has repeatedly hit for his stances on gun control.
