Rove-affiliated American Crossroads airs ads for Tillis

American Crossroads will spend $1.1 million on a commercial praising state House Speaker Thom Tillis in an effort to boost his U.S. Senate run.

Posted 2:36 p.m. Apr 1, 2014 — Updated 4:10 p.m. Apr 1, 2014

Mark Binker

RALEIGH, N.C. — American Crossroads, the Super PAC affiliated with Republican strategist Karl Rove, has begun airing $1.1 million worth of ads across North Carolina on behalf of Thom Tillis' U.S. Senate campaign.

Tillis, the state House speaker, is leading all recent polls of the eight-way North Carolina Republican U.S. Senate primary. His closest competitors are Dr. Greg Brannon of Cary, Wilkesboro nurse Heather Grant and Rev. Mark Harris of Charlotte. The winner will take on Sen. Kay Hagan, a first-term Democratic incumbent, in the general election.

"It's clear to us that Thom Tillis has the experience, conservative principles and passion to clean up the mess that President Obama and Sen. Hagan are making in Washington," American Crossroads President Steven Law said. "Speaker Tillis has been an architect of conservative change in North Carolina, and he’ll be a leader for North Carolina values in the U.S. Senate."

Tillis' time in elected office and his support from well-known GOP figures like Rove have earned him the "establishment candidate" label, a double-edged moniker that connotes a stable, known quantity for many voters but a too-cozy-with-power attitude for some in the tea party wing of the party.

"We will show a clear contrast between our opponent, who is backed by establishment insiders like Karl Rove, and a servant citizen backed by grassroots conservatives, who will actually fight for our party's conservative values in the U.S. Senate," Reilly O'Neal, Brannon's campaign manager, said in January when asked about a fundraising email that labeled Tillis an "establishment-backed insider."

The Crossroads commercial is a 30-second spot airing in Charlotte and Raleigh, the state's two most expensive markets. It spends its first 10 seconds slamming Hagan and tying her to President Barack Obama. In particular, it repeats the mantra that Democrats lied about individuals being able to keep their health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

It then goes on to laud Tillis as "true to our values" and tick off some highlights of this time in the General Assembly, including:

"As Speaker, eliminated a $2.5 billion deficit." This line refers to the 2011 budget, which did in fact face a $2.5 billion gap when Republicans took control of the General Assembly that year. It is worth noting that the state constitution requires lawmakers to pass a balanced budget and that the spending plan drafted by Republicans wasn't universally popular – then-Gov. Bev Perdue vetoed the measure.

"...and cut taxes." This refers to a 2013 tax reform measure that lowered income tax and some other tax rates. Not everyone ended up paying less under the measure. For example, sales taxes on items like movie tickets went up, and various tax measures allowed the state's earned income tax credit to expire, meaning that many low-income earners will not see as big of a refund this year.

"The conservative guts to replace Obamacare with honest health care reforms." This statement is aimed at blunting on of the primary attacks Tillis' conservative critics have used against him. During a recent appearance on the Bill Lumaye radio show, Tillis described the Affordable Care Act as "a great idea that can't be paid for." This prompted many conservatives to pounce. "When the government mandates citizens to purchase any private good or product, it is always wrong. Period," said FreedomWorks:Thom Tillis Calls ObamaCare an Unaffordable but “Great Idea”Russ Walker, national political director for FreedomWorks, a group backing Brannon. "Greg Brannon is a real leader who will fight Obamacare consistently at every turn, because he understands that it’s not just about the money – Obamacare is a threat to the individual rights of American citizens."

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