New ad targets Horn over impeachment vote

A Republican-affiliated group that sponsored ads criticizing U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn before the House impeachment vote last year has purchased $200,000 worth of air time for a new line of attack on the freshman Democrat.

American Action Network has launched a television spot featuring a woman named Ashley, “a mom, wife, nurse,” complaining that Washington, D. C ., was too focused on impeachment and not enough on problems such as illegal immigration and the opioid crisis.

“It's like an obsession,” she says.

“How can Kendra Horn be different when she voted with them to imp each the president?”

American Action Network, whose board includes former Republican members of Congress, does not reveal its donors. The group's previous ads ran for several weeks leading up to the Dec .18 impeachment vote and called out Horn for joining with

Democratic colleagues in the effort.

Horn, D-Oklahoma City, voted to expand the House investigation of whether President Donald Trump had linked military aid to Ukraine with an investigation of former Vice President Donald Trump.

Horn later voted for both articles of impeachment.

According to the group, $ 375,000 was allocated for the broadcast and digital ads last year and $200,000 of ad time has been purchased for the new spot.

Contracts with Oklahoma City television stations show the ad is set to run from Jan. 17 to Jan. 30.

Ward Curtin, spokesman for Horn's campaign, said, “The out- of- state dark money group behind this week's attack ads clearly aren' t fa mili ar with Kendra Horn's record. This kind of ad won't work in our district, because voters here k now Congresswoman Horn is focused on fighting for what is best for Oklahomans.”

A separate dark money group called House Majority Forward has sponsored ads promoting Horn and her support of a Democratic health care reform bill.

The ad shows clips of Horn and healthcare providers and says: “Washington got a dose of common sense when we sent Kendra Horn to Congress … . Now Horn is fighting the high costs of prescription drugs by empowering Medicare to bring down prices for all Americans and capping out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors.”

According to Politico, House Majority Forward is affiliated with congressional Democrats and their main political action committee.

Contracts at the NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox affiliates in Oklahoma City show the group spent about $231,000 in late December and this month to boost Horn.

Horn has criticized dark money, which is political spending that can't be traced to the original source, and she voted for a House bill last year that would require more disclosure.