Outside groups caught lying to prop up vulnerable GOP congressman

Outside interest groups are resorting to false and misleading ads against Democratic candidate Danny O’Connor in order to support Rep. Troy Balderson’s struggling campaign.

Balderson, an Ohio Republican, squeaked out a slim victory over O’Connor during an August special election in a district that supported Trump by double digits. But to keep his seat, Balderson still has to survive a rematch with O’Connor when voters go to the polls on Nov. 6.

In a “misleading slam” of an ad, as the Columbus Dispatch put it, the Republican group Defending Main Street is attempting to turn voters against O’Connor using misinformation and anti-immigrant xenophobia.

The ad falsely claims O’Connor supports making Columbus a “sanctuary city for illegal immigrants.” O’Connor has not, in fact, come out in support of this.

Trump and Republicans who support him, like Balderson, often use fear-mongering rhetoric in an attempt to pit neighbor against neighbor rather than bring communities together.

There’s good reason why an outside group would rather spread racially inflammatory misinformation about O’Connor than talk about Balderson’s record on the issues.

Balderson supports repealing the Affordable Care Act, and backed the Republican health care bill that would have forced 23 million people to lose their health insurance.

The bill would have also removed protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions, which could raise the cost of health insurance by thousands of dollars for people like cancer survivors and asthma patients.

Misleading, racist ads also take attention away from Balderson’s terrible ideas on the economy.

In his short time in Congress, Balderson has already voted to increase the national deficit by $3.8 trillion to pay for tax breaks mainly benefitting the richest one percent.

He also supported the unpopular 2017 Republican tax scam, which was a massive giveaway to Wall Street banks, rich CEOs, and the wealthiest Americans.

Sadly, it’s not new for outside groups to pay for lying ads on Balderson’s behalf. It happened during the special election, and will likely happen again before Nov. 6.

Meanwhile, the Columbus Dispatch has once again endorsed O’Connor as the right person for the job.

Since Balderson doesn’t have a record worth running on, no wonder outside groups are relying on lies and misinformation about his opponent.