Democratic group targeting GOP candidates in ad during Jan. 6 hearing

A Democratic super PAC will air an ad during Thursday’s prime-time hearing of the House Jan. 6 select committee that targets four GOP candidates for statewide office who have downplayed the Capitol riot or disputed the 2020 election results.

The ad from American Bridge will focus on Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, Michigan gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley and North Carolina Senate candidate Ted Budd.

The 30-second ad, which displays images of the rioting at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, features audio of each of the candidates speaking about that day or their baseless view that the 2020 election was fraudulent.

The ad uses a clip of Mastriano saying he was in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 “to hear my president speak.”

“Yes, I was in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6. Yes, the FBI did raid my house,” Kelley says in another audio clip in the ad.

The ad uses a clip of Budd saying of the riot: “It was nothing. It was just patriots standing up.”
And Lake is heard saying “the election of 2020 was stolen from us” over an image of her standing with former President Trump.

“At least 120 election deniers are on the ballot this year,” the ad says. “This November take our democracy back.”

Thursday’s ad is part of the Democratic group’s broader Bridge to Democracy campaign to focus on state and local races for positions like governor, secretary of state, attorney general and state legislators in 12 key states “where a fair election is vital for a democratic and a legitimate 2024 presidential fight.”

The three gubernatorial races targeted in Thursday’s ad — Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona — are in states President Biden carried in 2020 but where Trump and his supporters filed numerous legal challenges claiming the vote count was fraudulent. Those lawsuits were dismissed, and there was no evidence of widespread fraud.

The ad will air during the Jan. 6 committee hearing Thursday night, when committee members are expected to focus on Trump’s inaction during the roughly three hours where rioters stormed the Capitol to try to halt the certification of the 2020 election results.