WASHINGTON, D.C. — With control of Congress on the line, the midterm ad wars are heating up. Billions are being spent to sway voters, but one PAC is taking aim at the party, not the candidate.
“We can get Republicans to vote Democrat when they see ads like ours like that,” said Patrick Reynolds, president of Congress Majority PAC and grandson of tobacco titan R.J. Reynolds.
Reynolds famously broke ranks with his family’s legacy to become a fierce anti-tobacco advocate. After decades of advocacy, he launched Congress Majority PAC.
“I just got tired of how the Republicans in Congress were not wanting to tax tobacco, didn’t want smoking bans, didn’t want change,” Reynolds said.
His Democrat political action committee seeks to do things a bit differently than other PACs.
“Right now, in our political system, all the money goes to candidates or to the big PACs, and all they do with the money is provide attack ads for the candidates they don’t want to win,” Reynolds said.
Congress Majority PAC is targeting the Republican Party itself, with a call to action for voters who might not be entirely enthusiastic about Democrats this year.
“Vote Democrat, even if it hurts,” Reynolds said, citing one of his PAC’s recent ad slogans.
The PAC recently expanded with new ads in seven Senate battlegrounds — including Michigan, where Republican Mike Rogers faces Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.
“Abdul El-Sayed’s radical agenda will eliminate employer-sponsored and union-negotiated health insurance plans and make life more expensive for Michigan’s working families. You don’t have to take our word for it — he’s said it himself,” said Chris Gustafson, the communications director for the Republican-aligned Senate Leadership Fund.
Many political analysts say that Democrats are leading on the generic congressional ballot, which asks voters, as of today, do you plan to vote for a Republican or a Democrat for Congress?
“They’re leading in most polls between 8% and 16% on that,” said Dr. Todd Belt, professor and director of the Political Management Master’s Program at George Washington University. “And that’s why the Republicans are really playing defense right now.”
