McCarthy’s Democratic challenger to launch first TV ad highlighting Air Force service as single mother

The Democrat challenging House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is going live with her first TV ad in the race for California’s 23rd Congressional District, the campaign shared with The Hill on Monday. 

The 30-second TV ad for Kim Mangone is backed by a $500,000 ad buy and is set to air starting Tuesday. It highlights Mangone’s service in the Air Force while she took college classes and raised her daughter as a single mother. 

“I followed my father’s footsteps into the Air Force. Early on, I was the only female mechanic in the shop. While going to college at night, I worked on the B-2 bomber program during the day, all while raising my daughter as a single, working mom,” Mangone says in the ad. 

“Today, too many people are struggling to get by while billionaires get handouts in Congress. I’ll stop it so families finally get the tax breaks they deserve,” she adds. 

I am the Democrat running against Republican Kevin McCarthy. I am a United States Air Force Veteran, Democrat and a single mother. This is my first TV ad. Please retweet it to help me winpic.twitter.com/BfrAZDDHcv

— Kim Mangone for Congress 2020 (@KimMangone) September 20, 2020

The ad first aired digitally last week. Since Mangone tweeted it out Saturday, the video has been viewed 1.5 million times on the platform. 

Mangone’s campaign said it was flooded with donations after she shared the ad on Twitter, with the average donation around $23. The campaign said the influx of donations caused it to up the TV ad buy by an additional $100,000, bringing it to half a million. 

It is the first time a candidate challenging McCarthy has been on TV, according to Mangone’s campaign. 

Mangone’s campaign said it has also raised more than all of McCarthy’s past challengers combined, however it still far lags behind that of the California Republican.

Mangone faces a tough challenge against the top House Republican in the deep-red California district. McCarthy first assumed his seat in 2007.