A GOP super-PAC is launching an attack campaign to defend a vulnerable Hispanic House Republican in south Florida.
The Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), a super-PAC dedicated to protecting GOP lawmaker seats, is spending $1.7 million in Florida’s 26th District.
{mosads}Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), a Cuban-American opposed to GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, is facing a challenge from former Rep. Joe García, the Cuban-American Democrat he unseated in 2014.
The CLF’s campaign will focus exclusively on attacking Garcia, who drew attention this week for controversial comments he made about Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
“Lyndon Johnson wasn’t a particularly charming man, wasn’t a particularly nice man: He would ask you nice, and then when you didn’t do it, he made you do it. And Hillary is under no illusions that you want to have sex with her, or that she’s going to seduce you, or outthink you,” Garcia said at a campaign office in Key Went on Sunday.
CLF spokeswoman Ruth Guerra told The Hill that this wasn’t the first time Garcia’s “behavior and poor judgement has created national headlines.”
“Using this week’s controversy as a springboard, Congressional Leadership Fund, super PAC endorsed by House Republican leadership, is launching a social media campaign with a new video to remind FL-26 voters of Garcia’s scandal-plagued history,” Guerra said.
The campaign will use the hashtag #ShadyJoeGarcia and a video of Annette Taddeo, who Garcia narrowly beat in the Democratic primary, to drive home its message.
In 2013, Garcia’s former chief of staff pled guilty to involvement in a fraudulent absentee voter ballot scheme conducted during Garcia’s 2012 election. Garcia claimed to have no knowledge of the scheme and was never formally implicated.
In the video, Taddeo says that “there were proof that he knew all along what was going on,” although it is unclear whether she is referring directly to Garcia.
Democrats have targeted Curbelo as they seek to use Trump’s unpopularity with Latinos to mount attacks on GOP incumbents in heavily Hispanic districts.
Curbelo, one of the first Republicans to voice open opposition to Trump, has battled to disassociate himself from the nominee and appeal to Hispanics in his district.
“Both presumptive nominees are so unpopular that I think we’ll see an uptick in ticket-splitting,” Curbelo told The Hill in May.
His campaign did not immediately comment on CLF’s social media push.
Curbelo spokeswoman Joanna Rodríguez issued a press release critical of García’s Clinton comments and his attacks on Curbelo’s plan to reform the Cuban refugee system.
“South Florida voters have rejected Garcia and his disgusting language and divisive rhetoric four times, and this latest insult to the people of this district is just another reason I’m confident they will do it again in November,” the release said.
CLF spent more than $11.4 million in 2014 helping Republicans in vulnerable district retain or capture their seats.