DCCC ads defend Lee, Horsford on drug bill

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will launch a series of digital ads this week in support of Republican-targeted Reps. Steven Horsford and Susie Lee’s work on H.R. 3, a prescription drug pricing bill that passed in the House on Thursday.

The Facebook advertisements will feature animations of pill organizers and target “persuadable voters” in English and Spanish, DCCC spokesman Andy Orellana said.

The DCCC would not specify exactly how much it will spend on the ads, saying only it was a “significant” buy that could grow further next week.

“This targeted ad buy is a reminder that while (Lee and Horsford) continue to put the priorities of Americans first, Washington Republicans once again showed they will always prioritize padding the pockets of their special interest backers over the people they were elected to represent,” Orellana said.

The bill would save an average family of four $1,920 per year and lower prices for hundreds of thousands of voters in Nevada’s 3rd and 4th districts, Orellana said. It does not appear likely to be called for a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate.

In response to the advertisements, National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Torunn Sinclair said Lee and Horsford had promised to work with Republicans on this bill before caving to the “Democrats’ socialist agenda.”

“So, instead of a bipartisan bill that will pass the Senate and help find innovative solutions to curing diseases, you have a bill that will go nowhere and help no one,” Sinclair said.

The DCCC ads come after a week in which Lee has been targeted by the state and federal Republican parties with polling and digital ads, as well as a prominent right-leaning dark money group, which spent $500,000 in TV and digital advertisements.

Lee and Horsford’s districts are battlegrounds for both parties, as the seats have changed parties several times in recent elections.

Republicans have attempted to push the narrative that Lee, Horsford and other Democrats are avoiding actual governance in favor of an all-out impeachment attempt against President Donald Trump.

Democrats have countered that H.R. 3, an upcoming vote on the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement and other legislation are evidence they can “walk and chew gum at the same time,” as Orellana put it.

Contact Rory Appleton at rappleton@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0276. Follow @RoryDoesPhonics on Twitter.