Cindy Axne, Abby Finkenauer Air 1st TV Ads Of 2020

Iowa Reps. Cindy Axne and Abby Finkenauer today released the first television ads of their respective re-election campaigns with just under 100 days until Election Day.

Axne’s ad focuses on how she has helped Iowans in the 3rd District navigate the coronavirus pandemic. The six-figure ad buy begins Tuesday in the Des Moines media market, according to a campaign spokesperson.

“Cindy Axne increased funding for coronavirus testing in health centers to slow the spread and cut through red tape to expedite testing,” a narrator says. “Cindy’s fighting to make COVID treatment free for everyone who needs it and personally securing the protective gear our health care workers need.”

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A coronavirus-related ad that lists the accomplishments Axne helped secure is well-timed this week as Republicans struggle to come to an agreement on what should be included in the next coronavirus relief bill. House Democrats, on the other hand, passed the Heroes Act in May and ever since have called on the Republican-controlled Senate to take it up or negotiate with Democrats on a compromise so that crucial provisions of the CARES Act, such as expanded unemployment insurance and a moratorium on evictions, do not lapse. (Axne and Finkenauer voted against the Heroes Act because they disagreed with portions of the bill they felt did not help those most impacted by the pandemic.)

Because the Senate did not pass legislation last week, there likely will be a lapse in the extra $600 in weekly unemployment payments until a new bill is signed into law.

Axne’s Republican challenger David Young has not been on TV yet and currently is not running any ads on Facebook or Instagram.

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Also on Monday, Finkenauer’s campaign released “Build Up,” a 30-second TV ad about her father’s career as a union pipefitter-welder and how that has impacted her agenda as a congresswoman.

“I took his sweatshirt with these burn holes to Washington to remind folks there that we work for hardworking Americans like my dad,” Finkenauer says while holding the sweatshirt that featured prominently in her run in 2018. “I’m working to build up American manufacturing by making sure infrastructure projects use American-made material and pay good wages, to help Iowans to not only make a good living but to have a good life.”

The ad begins airing today in the Cedar Rapids media market and will stream online throughout Eastern Iowa’s 1st District.

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Finkenauer’s well-funded opponent, Marion state Rep. Ashley Hinson, is not up on TV but is active with fundraising ads on Facebook and Instagram.

Over the last seven days Hinson and her campaign have had to deal with a string of negative headlines resulting from a New York Times report that found Hinson’s campaign had plagiarized portions of op-eds and policy proposals from news outlets and Finkenauer’s website.

By Elizabeth Meyer
Posted 7/27/20

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