With district lines being redrawn, Rep. Tom O'Halleran, a Democrat in Arizona's new 2nd district, is potentially becoming even more vulnerable. An ad from the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) on Thursday pointed out with O'Halleran's tone-deaf comments on inflation, a major issue for voters across the country at this time, including in Arizona.
NEW @NRCC ad introducing @TomOHalleran to voters in Arizona's 2nd District.
— Torunn Sinclair (@TorunnSinclair) January 27, 2022
Arizonans are facing the highest inflation in DECADES, but O'Halleran doesn't even care. #AZ02 pic.twitter.com/8wyjdq6HjR
The 30 second ad highlights the concerns of inflation and O'Halleran's role in that, with his vote for the stimulus package that experts say had made inflation worse. He also voted in favor of the Build Back Better Act last November. A POLITICO-Harvard poll highlighted that a plurality of respondents believe it will make inflation worse.
It's not merely O'Halleran's voting record, but his own comments. The ad also highlights remarks the congressman made for Bloomberg last September.
From a September 30 report by Emily Wilkins and Alex Ruoff:
But some swing-district members in the House aren’t so concerned about the cost of it, despite the National Republican Congressional Committee running ads in more than a dozen Frontline districts warning that the measure would increase inflation and raise taxes.
Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-Ariz.) said he doesn’t expect the level of spending to be an issue for voters.
“Inflation is not out of control,” he said. “It won’t be out of control because this money is not going to be spent for a number of years.”
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As far as inflation being "out of control" or not, earlier this month, inflation reached the highest level in 40 years.
"Arizonans are paying more for everything because of Tom O’Halleran’s reckless spending," NRCC Spokeswoman Torunn Sinclair told Townhall.
The redrawn district has gone from a pro-Biden one to a significantly pro-Trump one, which Trump won by 7.9 points. FiveThirtyEight has the district with an R+15 partisan lean.
Last month, Cook Political Report indicated that Republicans are expected to take control of the House of Representatives.
Arizona's 2nd district received special mention by David Wasserman for Cook Political Report. "Although this is technically a 5-4 Biden map, it deeply imperils Democratic Rep. Tom O’Halleran in Northern Arizona," Wasserman wrote. The district is also regarded as "Likely Republican."
The ad against O'Halleran wasn't the only House news on Thursday. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) added seven members to their list of vulnerable members as part of their frontline list.
Even the @DCCC knows Democrats have a choice: Retire or Lose. https://t.co/qnkXK7tgG5
— NRCC (@NRCC) January 27, 2022
The NRCC is calling on members such as O'Halleran and the Democrats as part of the frontline members list to "retire or lose."
Twenty-nine Democrats have indicated they will not seek re-election. The high retirement rate is on par with 1994, when Republicans ultimately gained control of the House when they picked up 54 seats in what was known as the "Republican Revolution."
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