Jacob Ogles
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will run ads in two targeted Florida House districts regarding the coronavirus threat.
The ads will run in Florida’s 15th and 16th Congressional Districts, represented respectively by Reps. Ross Spano and Vern Buchanan. The Florida jurisdictions are among seven districts being targeted by the DCCC.
“It’s disturbing that the Trump Administration is too concerned about drug manufacturers’ profits to even attempt to make an affordable vaccine for a virus that is rapidly spreading across the globe,” said DCCC Spokesperson Sarah Guggenheimer.
Then organization issued statements dinging both Spano and Buchanan for voting against legislation to bring down the cost of prescription drugs.
The digital ads will target Facebook and Instagram users living in the respective districts. Different versions were cut calling out specific Representatives by name.
The move was announced a day after Florida officials acknowledged two patients tested as presumptively positive in Florida. Those include one patient from Hillsborough County and one from Manatee. The diagnoses have since been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Both districts being targeted in Florida cover parts of Hillsborough, and Buchanan represents all of Manatee.
The bilingual ads will criticize President Donald Trump’s administration for its response to the coronavirus threat. They will also specifically demand the incumbent Republican House members step in and demand action.
Notably, the move comes as Democrat Margaret Good, Buchanan’s challenger, received criticism for fundraising off of the coronavirus scare.
But DCCC officials noted their ads make no appeal for fundraising. Rather, officials said the intent is to press those neighbors to work in a bipartisan manner as a check on the Trump administration.
Spano and Buchanan each have “an obligation to stand up to the White House and drug manufacturers by demanding they work to ensure a coronavirus vaccine is affordable for working families,” said Guggenheimer.
The ads themselves focus on comments by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar that the federal government can’t ensure any coronavirus vaccine will be affordable.
Florida Democratic leaders this week attacked Vice President Mike Pence, who has been charged with heading federal response to the coronavirus scare, for attending a fundraiser for the National Republican Congressional Committee at Buchanan’s home.
Buchanan, for his part, is pushing Congress to get an emergency funding request for $6 to $8 billion to Trump’s desk this week.
Spano on Monday released a video shot within Tampa International Airport encouraging everyone in the area to remain calm.
“Take the necessary steps, wash your hands, stay home if you are sick and don’t be fearful,” he said. “Get you news from official news sources such as the CDC and the NIH.”
He’s released no press releases about coronavirus.
