A month ago, a Republican super political action committee threatened to roll out an ad about Democrat Paul Davis being at a strip club raided for drugs 20 years ago.
On Wednesday, the PAC made good on its threat.
The Congressional Leadership Fund, with ties to House Speaker Paul Ryan, introduced its new 30 second ad, titled “Unethical.”
The PAC vowed to release the ad a month ago when Davis complained about a Republican ad falsely saying he would support Nancy Pelosi for House speaker.
It’s the latest in a series of attack ads in the 2nd Congressional District, where Republican Steve Watkins is battling to keep the seat from turning Democratic.
The ad replays the same issue that surfaced in Davis’ 2014 campaign for governor when he deflected reports that he was in a southeast Kansas strip club when it was raided for drugs in 1998.
Davis, 26 and single at the time, said he wasn’t charged, arrested or detained. Police said he was interviewed briefly and released. They also said he was not the subject of that investigation.
The ad also renews the criticism that Davis, while serving in the Kansas House, opposed a bill that would have regulated sexually oriented business.
“This is yet another example of Washington special interests scraping the bottom of the barrel to attack a public servant with a strong record of fighting for Kansas’ families,” Davis spokeswoman Kelsi Browning said in a statement. “It’s our hope Steve Watkins will stop hiding behind attack ads and focus on the issues that every day Kansans face.”
Washburn University political science professor Bob Beatty said the latest Davis ad is part of an all-out assault that the Republicans are mounting against Davis.
Federal Election Commission reports show that the Congressional Leadership Fund has spent about $913,000 opposing Davis in the 2nd Congressional District.
Republicans “are pulling out the playbook of past elections in Kansas,” Beatty said. “Page seven, Nancy Pelosi. Page 15, the strip club.
“They’re essentially saying, ‘Hey, it worked before, let’s go with what works. It’s the same campaign they ran against Davis when he ran for governor. It’s cookie-cutter. The big question is: Are voters going to recognize that and be tired of it?”
