Farmers behind election attack ads against GOP

Farmers behind election attack ads against GOP

A farmer-backed political group is pouring millions of dollars into advertisements targeting Republican candidates over policies that have hurt agricultural communities, including the rising cost of living driven in part by President Donald Trump's tariffs and the war in Iran. The American Meat Producers Association's political action committee has spent roughly $2.9 million on ads targeting Republicans in Iowa, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, according to a report from Reuters. It is the latest sign that the economic fallout from the administration's policies has become more and more of a political vulnerability for the GOP, which is now facing the prospect of losing both the House and Senate in next week’s midterm elections. While according to its website the group behind the ads typically advocates for “policies that promote responsible production” and “protect fair and open meat markets,”which remain a focus of this campaign, some of the ads in the recent blitz target Trump’s foreign policy. "These ads point out that certain lawmakers have voting records that have hurt farmers," Holly Bice, the group’s president, told Reuters. “[F]armers and ranchers don't experience policy one bill at a time,” she added. It is unclear who the donors behind the ad campaign are. The AMPA PAC is not transparent about its donors. Reuters says the group’s president told them it was “supported by farmers, meat companies and ‘people who care about family farming,’” but did not disclose more details. The group has also funded advertisements for two Republican candidates who share their views on congressional legislation related to animal welfare. The advertisements are part of a broader effort by Democratic candidates and party-aligned groups to home in on the Iran war as a major campaign issue, and tie it to rising living costs ahead of the midterms. A recent Associated Press analysis found that Iran-related television ads had aired more than 43,000 times in competitive congressional races between September 1 and October 14, at an estimated cost of $42 million. The AP found that a majority of the 50 races they analyzed had advertisements focusing on the conflict. “Of the 65 unique Iran-themed ads identified by the AP, 61 of them stressed household cost-of-living messages such as rising prices for fuel and other items,” according to the report. American farmers have been particularly hit by the war’s economic fallout, with soaring fuel and fertilizer prices driving up production costs. Partly as a result, the midterm races in swing states with large agricultural economies are on track to be closer than expected when voters head to the polls next week. Even some deep-red states with large farming constituencies now look more like toss-ups with only a few days left before the election. Last month, the Iowa Farmers Union endorsed all five Democrats running in federal elections in the state, the first time the group had made any kind of endorsement in a federal race in decades. After Trump announced his fuel relief program that will only kick in after votes are counted, the union defended its move, saying that instead of “a Band-Aid response now, 2 weeks before the election,” the president needs to “conclude the war without sacrificing our farmers’ bottom lines.” The political arm of the larger and more powerful Iowa Farm Bureau has maintained its record of supporting Republican candidates, though it has notably declined to endorse the GOP nominee for governor for the first time in 16 years. Regardless, Trump’s popularity among these communities appears to be suffering. Polling from Reuters/Ipsos shows that Trump’s approval rating among rural Americans has slipped from 61% last October to 45% earlier this month.