By Elizabeth Meyer
For the second time this summer, End Citizens United is heavily investing in the race for Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat with a $1.3 million commitment to television, digital ads and mailers.
The group’s latest ad, “Table,” asserts that “Washington has changed Joni Ernst.”
The 30-second spot knocks the Republican senator for accepting campaign donations from health care corporations, voting multiple times against the Affordable Care Act and her support for the 2017 tax law that disproportionately benefited wealthy Americans and corporations.
“It’s no secret that Washington has changed a lot of politicians, and Sen. Joni Ernst is a prime example of how that hurts constituents,” said Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United. “Ernst has taken over $100,000 from the drug and health insurance industry, passed a tax scam that gave Big Pharma a $76 million tax break, and voted to gut protections for Iowans with preexisting conditions.
“Iowa families know that Ernst isn’t on their side and they’re seeing through her thinly veiled lies about her commitment to their health,” Muller continued. “Sen. Ernst is in the pocket of health-related corporations, and Iowans are paying the price.”
During a recent interview with The Cook Political Report’s Amy Walter, Ernst was asked to respond to allegations she was “in the back pocket of corporate interests” and has “been changed by Washington.”
Ernst responded by highlighting her upbringing on a farm in Southwest Iowa and the fact she still lives in a rural community.
“I was not the establishment candidate in my first race and I’m not the establishment candidate in this race,” Ernst said on “Politics with Amy Walter.”
Combined with its July ad buy, End Citizens United has now spent $2.4 million on Iowa’s Senate seat. During the Democratic primary, the group endorsed Theresa Greenfield, who won the nomination on June 2.