A third-party dark money group was running an attack ad against Senator Tammy Baldwin, in which they falsely accused Baldwin of voting to cut Medicare in favor of funding for electric vehicles. Their accusations were based on Baldwin's vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, which actually expanded Medicare and capped the cost of medications.
Enter the Elias Law Group:
Attorneys with Elias Law Group, on behalf of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, contacted OnMedia TV Ad Sales on Thursday requesting the spot's removal. They argued the ad "blatantly lies" about Baldwin's record.
"As Restoration PAC well knows, Senator Baldwin has never voted to cut Medicare. This false and misleading advertisement should be pulled from your network immediately," the DSCC attorneys' letter read.
OnMedia's director of national sales, Doug Staudt, responded Friday afternoon: "That spot has been replaced and no longer airing, as the agency provided alternate creative." Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesman Arik Wolk told the Journal Sentinel another TV advertising company, Viamedia, also told Elias Group lawyers the original ad had been pulled.
Unfortunately, Restoration PAC then announced a $3 million ad buy, running an almost identical ad, making the same false accusations. Bizarrely, in the ad, they accuse Baldwin of being "Madison's senator, not Wisconsin's." Um, yeah. Would someone please tell this group based in Illinois that Madison is not only in Wisconsin, it is the blooming state Capitol.
What makes that even more bizarre is the fact that Restoration PAC is primarily funded by Richard Uihlein, CEO of Uline, which is in Wisconsin. Uihlein and his wife also live in Wisconsin.
Uihlein and his dysfunctional PAC also have a history of running attack ads against Baldwin and lying to help Ron Johnson in 2016.
