The corporate-backed Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is attacking Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) for being overly "influenced by corporate PAC money."
In a new ad released Tuesday, DSCC-backed candidate Cal Cunningham attacks Tillis for allowing corporate PAC money to influence his vote to repeal Obamacare and its protections for people with preexisting conditions.
"We know why it's happening. Politicians like Thom Tillis are more influenced by corporate PAC money than the people of North Carolina," Cunningham says in the ad, which also mentions the hold of "drug and insurance" lobbyists over Congress.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY3gxgPPtYw
The DSCC has accepted $3 million from corporate PACs during the 2020 cycle, including five-figure donations from drug and insurance companies. They include $15,000 apiece from Pfizer, Merck, Sanofi, and AbbVie, as well as $10,000 from Blue Cross and $15,000 apiece from UnitedHealth, Cigna, and Humana.
The DSCC did not respond to a request for comment.
The DSCC is spending $89,000 on the Cunningham ad and another this week taking aim at Tillis's Obamacare vote, according to Politico.
Cunningham's claim last year that he wouldn't take money from "special interests" drew a "Mostly False" rating from PolitiFact. While he hasn't accepted corporate PAC money, he's accepted donations from special interest groups like labor PACs, as well as PACs funded by corporations.
Tillis, who is seeking a second term, is one of the top Democratic targets in the 2020 cycle. Cunningham, thanks in part to his heavy backing by national Democrats, is favored to win the state primary to challenge Tillis in November.
Tillis opposed Obamacare but he and 17 Republican colleagues introduced legislation in 2019 to guarantee health insurance coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.
UPDATE: 11:30 A.M.: This article was updated to show Tillis introduced legislation last year to protect people with pre-existing conditions.