2nd Republican ad goes after Stephanie Murphy on inflation

Screenshot from NRCC ad.

Republican groups launched a second digital ad Thursday attacking U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy by tying Democrats’ spending bills to inflation.

The National Republican Congressional Committee on Thursday began a digital advertising campaign against 15 potentially vulnerable Democratic House members, including Murphy.

Like the 30-second ad “Stephanie Murphy: Helped Cause Inflation,” launched earlier Thursday by the Republicans’ Congressional Leadership Fund, the NRCC’s 15-second “Sticker Shock” aims to blame the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill and other initiatives for inflation.

The NRCC said its battleground polling has found 70% of voters are concerned about rising prices.

On the other hand, polls last spring found the American Rescue Plan — which included $1,400 direct relief checks for most Americans, an unemployment compensation extension and aid for small businesses — drew high public approval ratings in many polls. The bill was approved almost entirely along party lines in March.

“Inflation is a tax on every single American and is a direct result of Democrats’ reckless spending,” NRCC Chairman Tom Emmer said in a news release. “We are going to ensure voters know that Democrats are responsible for the higher costs they are paying for just about everything.”

“Sticker Shock” mixes TV news reports on rising consumer prices with a narrator’s description of how bad inflation has become.

“We all feel it,” the narrator says. “Everything is more expensive. Democrats’ harmful economic policies are making everyday goods cost more.”

Murphy is seeking a fourth term representing Florida’s 7th Congressional District, which currently includes Seminole County and parts of northern, central, and eastern Orange County. The district likely will be significantly redrawn in redistricting the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature will engineer to meet reapportionment changes from the 2020 census.

A bevy of Republicans already filed for a chance to take her on, including conservative TV commentator Cory Mills, Erika Benfield, and state Rep. Anthony Sabatini.