Scoop: Democrat's ad touts "taking on" Biden, working with GOP
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A House Democrat in one of the most competitive districts in the country is trying to stress her differences with President Biden on border policy and tout her collaboration with Republicans in a new ad, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Distancing from a presidential administration is a time-honored strategy for down-ballot candidates in tough races, but vulnerable Democrats feel a heightened urgency to cordon off their campaigns this cycle.
Driving the news: Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) is "taking on the Biden administration and working with Republicans to secure the Southern border," according an ad from her re-election campaign, first shared with Axios.
- The ad cites a statement Gluesenkamp Perez put out with other centrist Democrats earlier this month urging Biden to go further than his executive order cracking down on illegal border crossings.
- It also points to a $66 billion foreign aid and border policy bill that a bipartisan group of centrists, including Gluesenkamp Perez, proposed in February as an alternative to the standalone foreign aid bill that ultimately passed.
- The ad is scheduled to begin airing Monday as part of a $500,000 ad buy.
Between the lines: Democrats had hoped to project toughness on the border this year by passing a bipartisan border security bill endorsed by Biden, but Republicans killed it with the encouragement of former President Trump.
- "The American people want solutions on the border, Donald Trump only wants chaos," said a Biden campaign spokesperson.
- "He and his MAGA allies in Congress proudly killed the strongest bipartisan border bill in a generation — siding with fentanyl traffickers over the border patrol and the American people."
State of play: Gluesenkamp Perez, who defeated hard-right opponent Joe Kent in an upset in 2022, is now fighting for re-election in a district Trump won by 4 percentage points in 2020.
- She may face a steeper uphill battle this cycle: Trump will be on the ballot, and establishment-aligned Republican Leslie Lewallen is running to try to stop Kent from once again becoming the GOP candidate.
- Biden's underwater approval rating, meanwhile, has some Democrats worried he will be a drag on the ticket even in blue-state swing districts.
Zoom out: The ad follows a pattern of vulnerable House Democrats trying to assert daylight between themselves and Biden on issues such as border policy, Israel and electric vehicles.
- Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) is running ads in his campaign for U.S. Senate claiming he "stood up to Joe Biden on the border."
- Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) — who, like Gluesenkamp Perez, is seeking re-election in state Trump won in 2020 and will likely win again this year — also has strained to emphasize his distance from the president on the border and other issues.
The other side: The National Republican Congressional Committee pointed to a clip of Gluesenkamp Perez saying in 2023 that "nobody stays awake at night worrying about the southern border" — remarks that are the subject of a recent GOP attack ad.
- "Marie Gluesenkamp Perez's desperate attempt to gaslight voters about her abysmal border security record is as laughable as it is insulting," said NRCC spokesperson Ben Peterson.
- "Perez's 'don't believe your lying eyes' campaign to hide her shameful record is crumbling faster than our wide-open border."
