A group aligned with the House Speaker John Boehner launched television ads in North Carolina Friday thanking Rep. Renee Ellmers for voting to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
The American Action Network is spending $120,000 to air the ad 175 times on broadcast television in the Raleigh media market and on conservative cable outlets. The North Carolina buy is part of a $525,000 national campaign with television ads in four districts, digital ads in 16 districts, and telephone calls to constituents in 75 districts.
‘Congresswoman Ellmers has been fighting for a strong conservative agenda, from policies that keep America safe to ones that instill greater fiscal and economic responsibility,’ American Action Network President Mike Shields said. ‘We want Congresswoman Ellmers’ constituents to know about her strong record, and we encourage constituents to support this agenda by calling and thanking her for fighting for a safe, stronger America.’
The American Action Network, a non-profit organization, says its mission is ‘to put our center-right ideas into action by engaging the hearts and minds of the American people and spurring them into action to advance our center-right policy agenda.’
Ellmers, R-N.C., was among 75 House Republicans who voted Tuesday for funding DHS through September, ending a tumultuous fight within the House Republican caucus over whether to support a bill financing the department without provisions to reverse President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration.
Last week, the House and Senate were forced to support one-week DHS funding measures to avert a partial agency shutdown after a House vote on a Republican-sponsored bill to fund it for three weeks failed.
An unusual coalition of conservative Republicans, who demanded riders attacking Obama’s immigration moves, and Democrats, who were pushing for a DHS measure minus immigration language, helped scuttle the bill.
On Tuesday, the House approved the so-called ‘clean’ DHS bill on a 267-157 vote. The vote angered several conservative and tea party-supported Republicans who felt that Boehner, R-Ohio, caved into the demands of congressional Democrats and the White House.
The DHS episode has divided the House Republican caucus. In the wake of the vote, some House Republicans challenged the conservative credentials of their colleagues. Older, more establishment Republicans questioned the strategies of some of the newer, tea party-aligned Republican members.
Ellmers also angered some abortion opponents in January when she helped lead a fight against a bill that contained a provision allowing abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy for victims of rape or incest, but only if the incidents were reported to law enforcement authorities.
Several House Republican women and moderate men in the party said the provision was too harsh. Boehner and his Republican leadership team were forced to pull the bill, which was to be voted on as part of the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, and replace it with a less controversial measure.