The National Republican Congressional Campaign on Monday will roll out a series of digital ads in key battleground districts in New York, knocking incumbent Democrats for a state law that will allow undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses.
The digital ad campaign to appear on Facebook will target Reps. Max Rose, Sean Patrick Maloney, Antonio Delgado and Anthony Brindisi.
With the exception of Maloney’s seat, the districts Republicans are targeting are represented by Democratic freshman who flipped their districts last year.
Still, all four seats are expected to be in varying levels of competitive play in 2020.
“Instead of cracking down on illegal immigration, Max Rose, Sean Patrick Maloney, Antonio Delgado and Anthony Brindisi have refused to denounce Andrew Cuomo’s dangerous actions,” said NRCC spokesman Michael McAdams. “New Yorkers deserve to know if they agree with Cuomo’s reckless decision to give illegal immigrants driver’s licenses.”
Though a measure approved by state lawmakers, the issue has tripped up Democrats on the national level in the past, most famously Hillary Clinton during a 2007 debate appearance when the proposal was first made by then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
And congressional Democrats in swing districts have distanced themselves before from state laws unpopular in their districts. Democratic Rep. Bill Owens, for instance, said he would have voted agains the SAFE Act gun control law.
The political fallout surrounding the driver’s license law, meanwhile, won’t be immediately clear.
State Democratic Committee Jay Jacobs warned Democrats in the state Senate the measure and a range of progressive measures approved in the last legislative session could have consequences for the party in the 2020 elections.