A.G. Gancarski
In the Republican primary race in Florida’s 6th Congressional District Wednesday, Mike Waltz‘s campaign released a hard hitting contrast ad deeming opponent John Ward a “liberal hypocrite.”
The 30 second spot asserts that Waltz is “pro-life, pro-gun and pro-Trump,” a stark contrast to “liberal hypocrite John Ward” who “says he’s a Republican, but stands with Obama and Clinton.”
“They all support the same liberal politicians who oppose President Trump and support liberal policies – more gun control, taxpayer-funded abortions and sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants,” the ad warns, continuing months of jousting between the two candidates, with each accusing the other of wavering in fealty to Trump and the GOP.
Back in January, Ward, a businessman and former U.S. Navy officer from Palm Coast, attempted to define Waltz, a businessman and former Army Green Beret from St. Augustine who had cut an ad against Trump in the primary season of 2016, as a “Never Trumper.”
“Michael Waltz was a strong #NeverTrump supporter who actively worked to make sure Trump was not elected and helped spread the egregious Trump and Putin lies being pushed by Hillary and the liberal media. He will quickly learn that Republican primary voters are not easily fooled, and they do not forget,” said Ward’s spokesman at the time.
On behalf of Waltz, Tim Baker deemed it “incredibly disappointing, but not surprising, that John Ward has come out of the gate running a negative campaign against a decorated veteran and showing that he is nothing but a typical politician who will say or do anything to win an election.”
Ward, in a May interview with Florida Politics, continued to express an almost complete affinity with President Trump.
And Thursday afternoon saw the Ward campaign release a memo, charging that the ad is the latest lie from Waltz: “As the election approaches, Michael Waltz will continue to lie about his own record. And he will lie about John Ward. And Michael Waltz will also hide key details about his record from the voters of the 6th district by continuing to fail to make his required federal candidate financial disclosure. We are confident, however, that the voters will see through Waltz’s lies and campaign tricks, and know a phony when they see one.”
Expect both Ward and Waltz to be on television heavily through August.
With incumbent U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis running for governor, the seat is open — and this will be an expensive race through November. Waltz and Ward, both heavily self-financed, have on hand over $616,000 and $467,000 respectively.
Former state Rep. Fred Costello, while not on television and at a distinct disadvantage in terms of cash on hand with just $51,308 on hand, nonetheless is competitive with the two first-time candidates, both new to the district, in at least one poll.
Neither Ward nor Waltz seems especially concerned with Costello. However, Costello picks up 21.1 percent of likely Republican primary voters in CD 6; Ward gets 20.5 percent; Waltz has 20 percent.
Material from Florida Politics’ Scott Powers was used in this post.
