WATCH: New Ad From GOP Super PAC Tries To Tie Sinema To Sanctuary Cities (#50ShadesOfDarkMoney)

Kyrsten Sinema supports "sanctuary cities", according to a new, major ad buy from One Nation hitting the airwaves today. That news might come as a surprise to many Arizonans. They remember a couple of years ago when the Congresswoman was one of just six Democrats to vote for a House bill which would have barred communities from receiving federal law enforcement monies if they failed to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

One Nation is a GOP Super PAC that has ties to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and heavyweight political consultant Karl Rove. It does not disclose its contributors, and is not divulging how much money it is spending on the ad posted below.* However, it purchased $93,000 worth of ad time on one Phoenix station (KPNX) alone.

The ad notes that Sinema voted twice last year against an amendment and a bill that would have penalized the cities (none in Arizona). Neither of those measures have been considered by the Senate. And, the ad closes by urging you to contact Sinema and ask her to vote for a similar measure recently proposed by members of the Freedom Caucus.

However, it does not mention that Sinema crossed the aisle to vote for the first such measure in 2015 - derisively referred to by one Democrat as "the Donald Trump Act" because it was rushed to the floor shortly after the then-candidate used the killing of Kate Steinle in San Francisco to define his campaign.

Sinema issued a statement saying that  “(w)hile today's bill is far from perfect, it addresses timely and important issues impacting our citizens' security."

An article yesterday in the New Yorker discussed the problems that Sinema's political evolution has caused with some fellow Democrats. Her 2015 "sanctuary city" vote was one that gave those supporters heartburn. Today's new ad probably will not be the first time that Republicans try to point out that those cross-party votes did not buy her much immunity.


#50ShadesOfDarkMoney scale: One Nation earns a 50+ for being as dark as dark money comes. Not only are they not disclosing their donors, but they are fashioning their ads so that the expenditures are not disclosed either.

*One Nation is fashioning the ad as an issue ad that does not need to be disclosed. Not coincidentally, the ad is only scheduled to run through next week, which keeps it outside of the 60-day period before the November 6 election. One Nation did the same thing during the primary, running an ad praising Reps. Martha McSally and David Schweikert for their work on border security.

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