Elections

Koch Network Launches First Anti-Clinton Ad

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Phillip Stucky Political Reporter
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The powerful Koch network posted an ad Wednesday that attempts to associate former Democratic governor of Ohio Ted Strickland with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

The Koch donor network announced the ad wasn’t part of a larger shift in strategy to support Republican candidate Donald Trump in the general election.

“As we have said before, we are not engaging in the presidential, however, showing how Ted Strickland has been a rubber stamp for Hillary Clinton’s job killing agenda is the most relevant and impactful message in this state,” Freedom Partners spokesman James Davis told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

“Ted Strickland has defended Clinton’s comments about putting coal miners out-of-business – a position that puts him vastly out-of-step with voters in the Appalachian region of Ohio. This ad will run in targeted markets where the coal industry and coal jobs are critical to families and surrounding businesses.”

Freedom Partners announced the group is spending $1 million in ad placements in the swing state of Ohio. Ted Strickland is running against Republican Sen. Rob Portman. Portman is widening his lead in the race, with the most recent Monmouth University poll in the race revealing Portman has an 8-point lead over Strickland.

“Senator Portman’s rich and powerful friends will tell any lie in order to help Portman stay in power and continue pushing their agenda at the expense of Ohio’s working families,” Strickland spokesman David Bergstein told The Hill.

“The claims in these ads have been repeatedly ruled false by independent fact checkers and experts — but Portman’s allies are desperate to distract from his own record of supporting job killing trade deals, trying to raise the retirement age for seniors and voting for the largest cut to Pell Grants in history.”

Strickland was polling ahead of Portman as recently as July. The top five contributors to Strickland is the Communications Workers of America, the American Federation of State and County Municipal Employees, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the American Association for Justice and United Steelworkers.

Portman raised over $20 million as of the end of June, with the top 5 contributors being Citigroup Inc, Goldman Sachs, Votesane PAC, Ernst & Young, and Apple Inc.

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