Outside groups step up advertising for N.C. Bacon-Vargas game
OMAHA — Two major national groups investing heavily in competitive congressional races aired their first television ads Tuesday in the U.S. House race to represent Nebraska’s 2nd District.
The National Republican Congressional Committee has released an ad targeting Democratic candidate Omaha Sen. Tony Vargas. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has launched two ads targeting Republican incumbent Rep. Don Bacon.
The themes of the first batch of ads suggest that voters in the Omaha district’s November election can expect some frequent lines of attack — attacks on Vargas for supporting criminal justice reform and Bacon for opposing abortion rights.
NRCC slams Vargas on justice reform vote
this NRCC AdvertisingThe film, which depicts a masked man walking at night, criticized Vargas for supporting bills considered by the Legislature in 2017 and 2020 to address prison crowding, including early parole eligibility. The ad argued that both measures would put public safety at risk.
In 2020, Vargas supported Legislative Bill 1004, which introduced changes aimed at making more people convicted of felonies eligible for parole more quickly. Critics of the proposal argue the measure goes too far, including people convicted of violent crimes.
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon accepts endorsement from the Omaha Police Association, the union representing officers of the Omaha Police Department, for his 2024 House race in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District. (Courtesy of Bacon Events)
Supporters of LB 1004 say the parole board should be trusted to evaluate cases and not grant early parole to people who commit heinous crimes. Pete Ricketts, then-Gov. vetoed the bill After the session ends, kill it.
The ad also criticized Vargas for supporting LB 447 in 2017, which would have cut mandatory minimum sentences for certain crimes and given judges more flexibility on a case-by-case basis, in part to address prison crowding. bill through the first round of debate But it failed to garner enough votes to overcome a threatening filibuster, so a second vote was not scheduled.
Bacon and the Omaha Police Association criticized Vargas’ support of both bills, saying they endanger public safety.
Meg Mundy, a spokesperson for the Vargas campaign, said Bacon and his supporters need to stop “trying to mislead voters about Tony Vargas’ record in order to obscure Bacon’s extreme agenda.” She noted bipartisan support for state criminal justice reform.
Conservatives and progressives alike support cutting mandatory minimum sentences for drug-related crimes because they are too costly for affected families and taxpayers. Nebraska’s proposed changes are also supported at that time Proposed by former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
The ad claims that Vargas “voted to allow the release of criminals,” which is technically correct. But parole eligibility does not guarantee parole, especially in a state where parole boards have lagged for years in getting people out of prison early.
“Don Bacon and his allies are at it again,” Mandy said. “The fact is, every one of these bills is bipartisan and has the support of Republicans, with whom Tony voted to increase law enforcement funding by $37 million per year.”
DCCC slams Bacon for views on Trump, abortion
this Two DCCC ads Try combining bacon with what they call “Make MAGA Agenda” remarks by former President Donald Trump and criticized Bacon for supporting a federal constitutional amendment banning abortion nationwide in 2017, 2019 and 2021 until Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.
The Personhood Amendment Act of 2021, which Bacon co-sponsored, lists no exceptions. He said lawmakers told him the measure would leave room to protect mothers’ lives.
Sen. Tony Vargas, D-Omaha, speaks at a Harris-Walz rally on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in La Vista, Nebraska. Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon. (Nebraska News Service/Naomi Delcamiller)
Bacon said he still supports a federal ban on abortion except for the life of the mother.
He also said he was realistic about what abortion restrictions could be passed in a divided Congress and said he would support a federal abortion ban set at 15 weeks as an incremental step to curb abortion.
Critics say Bacon cannot balance abortion opponents and moderates by co-sponsoring a ban without exceptions, saying he would only support a ban with exceptions. Vargas called Bacon’s stance on abortion out of touch.
Matthew Zacher, a spokesman for Bacon’s campaign, said Bacon knew Vargas and Democrats would try to label his views as unconventional, but said, “Nebraskans know Zacher, one of the most bipartisan Republicans in Congress, said Vargas’ views are extreme.
Vargas supports abortion rights and says reproductive health care decisions are best left to a woman and her doctor. Bacon and the NRCC criticized him for not specifying what, if any, abortion restrictions he would accept.
Nebraskans will vote on two competing abortion amendments this fall. Vargas supports the Protect Our Rights plan, which would add abortion to the state constitution until the “fetus is viable” (as defined by the treating health care provider).
It does not set a specific number of weeks to define viability. The current scientific standard for survival is 22-24 weeks of gestation. Current law, passed by the Nebraska Legislature in 2023, prohibits abortion after 12 weeks of gestation.
Bacon supports another ballot measure, Protecting Women and Children, which would ban most abortions after the first trimester of pregnancy. It does not specify how soon the Legislature can ban abortion. It would allow state senators to pass an outright ban.
Show voting stickers. (Getty Images)
Both proposed amendments include exception language for future abortions: “for the life or health of the mother” in the abortion rights initiative and “for the life of the mother and in cases of rape or incest” in the restrictions amendment.
“Congressman Bacon supports a Nebraska law that restricts abortion after the third trimester, with exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother,” Zacher said. “That’s what the majority of Nebraskans support.”
Mandy disagreed, saying Bacon “has repeatedly tried to ban abortion nationwide, with no exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother.”
DCCC ads are placed by the group’s independently run team, which handles independent spending on battlefield games such as NE-02.
Early in-person voting begins on October 7th.
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