WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman's American Action Network has launched a $1.2 million effort to urge the repeal of the Affordable Care Act days before the U.S. House is set to vote on such a measure.
The AAN effort will focus on 35 congressional districts, including Minnesota's 8th Congressional District, and will consist of direct mailings, print ads and robo-calls, according to a press release. Rep. Chip Cravaack, the freshman Republican who represents the 8th District, is considered a top target for Democrats this fall.
Here's a full list of lawmakers supported by the AAN and a look at their advertisements.
The Supreme Court deemed the Affordable Care Act constitutional on June 28, and House Republicans vowed to repeal the law. A vote is scheduled for Wednesday, though it's unlikely to move forward in the U.S. Senate.
The Affordable Care Act repeal is apparently the opening salvo of what's set to be a $10 million effort from the American Action Network to support conservative lawmakers and candidates in so-called "orphan sates," or those with competitive House races but broke or underfunded state parties.
The group has said Minnesota will be one of the states it targets this fall.
The group, one of the key outside forces on the right, is one of the organizations helping out in the so-called “orphan” states, with weak state parties but races that are key to holding and expanding the Republican majority in the House. They are pairing up, state by state, with existing groups on the ground to develop, over time, a comprehensive ground game that includes phones, offices, voter data and registration drives.
“We wanted to build something to serve as a counterbalance to the folks on the left,” Brian Walsh, president of AAN, said in an interview. “It has always been a focus of ours.”
... They are committing a baseline figure of $10 million to the project, which is being done through the network as issue advocacy, and not through its affiliated super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, which is devoted entirely to House races. Still, the focus on orphan states, officials note, has been a major priority of House Speaker John Boehner for months, as has fundraising for the CLF.
Devin Henry can be reached at dhenry@minnpost.com.