ALBANY, N.Y. — A new ad from a union-backed super PAC ties Lee Zeldin to the Jan. 6 insurrection and accuses the Republican gubernatorial candidate of putting “politics before the police.”
The 30-second spot features the brother of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died from a stroke a day after defending the seat of U.S. government from violent rioters.
“Lee Zeldin refused to support an investigation into violence against the police,” Ken Sicknick says as video images from the attack flash across the screen. “He didn’t stand behind our injured police officers, and he didn’t stand behind my brother Brian, a hero.”
The ad was commissioned by The Build New York Fund, an independent expenditure backed by the New York State Laborers’ Organizing Fund. About $250,000 is being spent to air the ad on digital and streaming platforms across the state, a source familiar with the push said.
Zeldin, a conservative Long Island congressman hoping to unseat Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul on Nov. 8, was one of four New York representatives to vote against certifying the results of the 2020 election hours after the Capitol was breached by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
He also later voted against a bipartisan bill that would have created a 9/11-type commission to investigate the insurrection, which has been tied to the deaths of five police officers.
“Lee Zeldin doesn’t support law enforcement,” Ken Sicknick says in the ad. “He puts his politics before the police.”
Brian Sicknick suffered a series of strokes and died of natural causes; however, the Washington medical examiner’s office determined that “all that transpired played a role in his condition.”
Four other police officers who responded to the insurrection died by suicide in the days and weeks following the attack.
The ad comes a day before the House Select Committee investigating the breach is set to hold its latest in a series of public hearings.
The hearing will touch on the “close ties between people in Trump world and some of these extremist groups,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., told CNN.
Independent expenditures have stepped up spending in New York’s heated gubernatorial race in recent weeks, with conservative groups like Safe Together NY and Save our State NY slamming Hochul over crime and bail reforms. The incumbent Dem has vastly outraised Zeldin and continues to lead in most polls.
By law, super PACs can raise and spend as much money as they want for or against candidates, but they cannot coordinate their efforts with any campaigns.
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