New Democratic super PAC to target swing-district Republicans over vote to overturn election

A new Democratic super PAC is taking to the airwaves to target House Republicans in swing districts, including several who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The Sedition Caucus PAC is launching a TV series promo-style ad campaign next week to target a handful of Republicans in battleground districts, according to plans that were first shared with The Hill. Its first ad targets Rep. Mike Garcia (Calif.), and the group also has plans to run ads against Reps. Scott Perry (Pa.), Richard Hudson (N.C.) and Beth Van Duyne (Texas).

“Our priority is to ensure voters fire members of the Sedition Caucus at the polls in 2022. Republican seditionists and QAnon members of Congress who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election cannot hide from their attempt to destroy our democracy. Mike Garcia and his fellow seditionists should be worried because we’re watching every vote they take and every statement they make,” said Joe Jacobson, the founder of the Sedition Caucus PAC. 

The ad campaign will hit the lawmakers over their vote to object to the Electoral College results, which the super PAC says helped fuel the Jan. 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill. 

“After they incited an attack on the Capitol and tried to overturn the election, Donald Trump stands trial, while Mike Garcia remains at large,” a narrator says in the ad against Garcia, referring to former President Trump’s upcoming impeachment trial over his role in inciting the riot. “Will Trump be convicted? Will voters hold Garcia accountable? Tune in next time on The Seditionists.” 

In addition to Perry, Hudson and Van Duyne, the PAC is also targeting Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), though he did not object to the Electoral College results.

McCaul’s campaign manager blasted the group for including him in their ad campaign.

“It’s a shame these political grifters are allowed to spread misinformation and ripoff grassroots donors while lining their own pockets. Michael McCaul voted to certify the election and has been a vocal critic of anyone who stormed the Capitol or committed politically motivated violence,” McCaul campaign manager Evan Albertson told The Hill.

All five Republicans the new super PAC is targeting represent districts Democrats hotly contested in 2020. Garcia only won his seat by 333 votes in November, and every other targeted Republican won by fewer than 10 percent.

The ad against Garcia is the result of a five-figure buy.

Garcia’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

The formation of the super PAC is just the latest effort by Democrats to go on the offensive against Republicans heading into the 2022 midterms.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced this week it is launching an early six-figure ad campaign tying House Republicans to the QAnon conspiracy theory and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).  

“QAnon, a conspiracy theory born online, took over the Republican Party, sent followers to Congress, and with Donald Trump, incited a mob that attacked the Capitol and murdered a cop,” a narrator says in one 30-second ad over footage of Greene, former President Trump and rioters ransacking the Capitol. 

Garcia and Van Duyne are also targeted in that ad blitz, as are House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Young Kim (Calif.), Michelle Steel (Calif.), Don Bacon (Neb.) and Maria E. Salazar (Fla.).

Updated: 8:57 p.m.