Las Vegas, NV. — A newly released ad from the Senate Leadership Fund, which is aligned with GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has brought the Trump/Republican anti-immigrant political message to Nevada. This ad aims to bolster incumbent Senator Dean Heller is like others produced by Republican candidates over the past year. It shows the GOP’s goal is to divide Americans by attacking immigrants and people of color in order to distract voters from their party’s horrible record on issues that impact Nevadans.
This ad closely mirrors other Republican attack ads that have been prominent in the Trump era. It resembles the ugly approach taken GOP nominee Ed Gillespie in the Virginia Governor’s race last fall. Those ads backfired and led to a larger than expected defeat for Gillespie. In May, Trump aide Stephen Miller, who has overseen anti-immigrant policy, told Breitbart that the GOP strategy for 2018 would be focused on immigrants. We’re seeing this play out now in Nevada.
Viridiana Vida, Nevada State Director at America’s Voice, said:
There’s a reason Republicans have taken this approach. Their candidates, like Dean Heller, can’t run on healthcare because Heller (after flip-flopping) was a key vote to dismantle it. And, he can’t run on the Republican tax cuts because they lined the pockets of their wealthy donors but have done absolutely nothing for the real wages of the average family in Nevada.
In our diverse state, this racist strategy is doomed to fail. Thanks in part to a backlash to Trump’s racism, support for immigrants and pro-immigrant policies is at record highs.
Instead of being afraid of the Trump/Heller strategy of divide-and-distract voter, we will call it out and expose it. CNN recently asked voters about Trump’s handling of immigration, and only 35% approved while 58% disapproved. Among independents, it was 29% — 64%, with similar margins for women and moderates. Trump and Heller are on the wrong side of this issue. We need elected officials who will bring us together across racial, ethnic and religious difference and works to make life better for all of us — regardless of who we are or where we come from.
This ad is despicable and has no place in Nevada. Dean Heller should disown it and tell his party to stop the racist attacks.
