Republicans may have abandoned their latest effort to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, but some advocacy groups aren’t letting the issue go so easily.
A couple of groups started running ads in the districts of GOP members of Congress this week, encouraging voters to call their representatives and demand that they reject the concept of a healthcare repeal altogether.
Save My Care, a left-leaning healthcare advocacy group in Washington, began running a series of digital ads this week taking aim at California Reps. David Valadao (R-Hanford), Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) and Darrell Issa (R-Vista).
“Just like a zombie, repeal keeps coming back,” the ads warn. They’re part of a “five-figure” national media buy, said Marcos Rodriguez Maciel, a spokesman for the group. He declined to disclose the group’s major funding sources.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also began running its first California TV ad of the year this week. The ad, titled “Never Stop,” features Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and warns that “They’ll never stop…coming after your healthcare.”
The ads are running on MSNBC and CNN in Denham and Valadao’s districts, and are being paired with radio ads that specifically target each member. In Valadao’s Central Valley district, constituents will also hear Spanish-language versions on the radio.
The ads are part of a “sizeable, six-figure” campaign running nationwide, according to the DCCC.
In a statement, spokesman Drew Godinich said it should be “no cause for comfort” that House Republicans have faltered in their attempts to repeal Obamacare and noted that several GOP members have already suggested they’d try again in the coming months.
Every House Republican from California voted in favor of a previous failed effort to repeal Obamacare, stoking Democratic hopes that it could become a galvanizing campaign issue in the 2018 elections.
But for that to happen, left-leaning groups will have to keep healthcare top of mind for many voters, even as more time passes since the latest repeal effort.