Senator Bice steps up air wars with conservative group
States en. Stephanie B ice and a conservative group opposing her bid for Congress have launched new ads attacking each other ahead of Tuesday's Republican primary in the closely watched 5th District.
Bice, of Oklahoma City, began airing a television spot that attacks the Club for Growth as “Never Trumper D.C. swamp lobbyists.”
The spot refers to the ad run by Club for Growth Action that links B ice to Harvey Weinstein, a movie producer who was convicted of sex crimes; the ad's stated connection between Bice and Weinstein is that Bice voted to expand a state tax incentive for movies and shows made in Oklahoma. “First they attacked Trump, calling him no better than Obama,” Bice's
response ad states. “Now this same bunch of open border Never Trumpers is attacking Stephanie Bice because Bice stands with President Trump.”
Bice has repeatedly called Club for Growth leaders Never Trumpers — a reference to conservatives who sought in 2016 to block Donald Trump's path to the Republican nomination for president.
A column written in February 2016 by David McIntosh, the president of the anti- tax, anti- regulation group Club for Growth, said Trump was not a true conservative and called some of his past statements “the ramblings of a liberal wannabe strongman who will use and abuse t he power of the federal government to impose his ideas on the country.”
McIntosh said Wednesday, “Sen. Bice is desperately trying to avoid talking about her record on taxes and spending, especially her vote for the biggest tax hike in the history of Oklahoma. Club for Growth has a very positive relationship with President Trump and his team and we have and are working together on a number of issues.”
Club for Growth Action is running a separate ad that calls Bice “another tax-andspend politician” and cites her vote for a $447 million
tax package in 2018, her vote to allow Oklahomans to decide whether to make it easier for the Legislature to raise taxes and her support for expanding the film tax incentive.
According to federal filings, Club for Growth Action has spent $216,126 opposing Bice, who is one of nine candidates in the Republican primary in the 5 th Congressional District.
Bice said her support of allowing voters to determine whether to lower the threshold for raising taxes
was in response to the “economic calamity and subsequent teacher walkouts that made Oklahoma the laughingstock of the nation, hurt our schoolchildren and brought state government to a near standstill.”
B ice has called the ad showing her and Weinstein — in separate photos — disgusting and an affront to women. A big part of her response has been to embrace Trump, though he has faced — and denied — several accusations of sexual assault and harassment. Trump was recorded in 2005 talking about pursuing a married woman, kissing women without their consent and grabbing women's genitals without their consent.
Asked how she felt about the allegations against the president and the 2005 recording, B ice said Wednesday, “Sexual assault is never OK, but there's a difference between accusation and a conviction by a jury of your peers and imprisonment. Weinstein is now a convicted felon.”
The 5th Congressional District includes most of Oklahoma County and Pottawatomie and Seminole counties. The GOP nominee, which may not be decided until the Aug. 25 runoff, will face Rep. Kendra Horn, D-Oklahoma City, in the general election.