Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s (R-Ga.) Senate campaign is putting six figures behind a new digital ad casting Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) as a “career politician” and linking him to prominent Democrats as the primary heats up between the two Republicans in a race that also includes several viable Democratic contenders.
“A typical career politician who says one thing and does another, who opposes term limits, who supported millions for Common Core and millions more for Sanctuary Cities and politically correct restrictions on our Second Amendment Rights,” the narrator in the ad states. “That’s typical politician Doug Collins. Doug Collins is just not who you think he is.”
The ad plays over pictures of former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). It closes with a picture of Collins embracing former Georgia state House Rep. Stacey Abrams (D-Ga.), who is a top contender to be Biden’s running mate in November.
The ad comes as polls show Loeffler in a tough election fight with Collins and Democrats Matt Lieberman and Raphael Warnock.
A recent Public Opinion Strategies poll found Collins leading the field with 19 percent, followed by Loeffler at 18 percent, Lieberman at 17 percent and Warnock at 9 percent.
The top two finishers in the primary, regardless of party, will go head-to-head in January if one candidate does not win a majority in November.
Loeffler was appointed to the Senate last year by Gov. Brian Kemp (R) to replace former Sen. Johnny Isakson (R), who stepped down for health reasons.
President Trump had wanted Kemp to appoint Collins to the Senate — a dynamic Collins has sought to exploit in his own attack ads against Loeffler.
In a recent ad, Collins’s campaign swiped at Loeffler for donating nearly $1 million to Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) when he was the GOP presidential candidate in 2012. Loeffler gave “NOTHING” to Trump’s campaign in 2016, Collins tweeted.
“Loeffler’s big money talks: but it was silent for Donald Trump,” Collins said.
New York Stock Exchange CEO Jeff Sprecher, who is married to Loeffler, donated $1 million last month to America First Action, the largest outside group supporting Trump’s reelection.