Misleading Ads from the DCCC

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is airing ads across the country to boost Democrats’ chances of taking control of the House. But we found several ads that ran afoul of the facts.

• An ad in Iowa misleadingly says that “50 percent” of the nonelderly in the 3rd District “have preexisting conditions,” yet Rep. David Young “voted to deny protections for their health care coverage.” His vote for the American Health Care Act would have lessened such protections for those on the individual market, where 6 percent of all Iowans get their coverage.
• Two other DCCC ads say Republican candidates in Colorado and Pennsylvania cast votes against those with preexisting conditions, even though the lawmakers ultimately joined Democrats to vote against the AHCA.
• In Pennsylvania, the DCCC claims that Rep. Mike Kelly’s “net worth increased by millions” while in Congress. But the source DCCC cites show that Kelly’s net worth has gone down since he took office.
• In Minnesota, an ad against Pete Stauber claims he’s in an “email scandal,” saying he “was caught using county tax dollars to help his congressional campaign.” Stauber, a county commissioner, swapped 15 emails with the National Republican Congressional Committee that the county said didn’t warrant any further action.
• In Virginia’s 10th District, the DCCC uses a familiar talking point to misleadingly claim Rep. Barbara Comstock voted for “the Trump tax plan that gives almost all the benefit to the richest 1 percent, while middle class families pay higher taxes.” That’s only the case after 2025, when most of the individual income tax changes are set to expire.

The DCCC, an official party committee, is the second biggest spender behind the Congressional Leadership Fund, which calls itself as “the super PAC endorsed by House Republican leadership.” As of Oct. 19, CLF has spent more than $93 million, while the DCCC has spent nearly $66 million, on so-called “independent expenditures,” according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Independent expenditures are TV ads and other forms of political communications that advocate for the election or defeat of a candidate. 

Earlier this week, we looked at some of the . Here we look at a sampling of DCCC ads that have aired