Club for Growth hits AL-02 hopeful Jeff Coleman for campaign contributions to Hawaii Democrat Neil Abercrombie in new ad

by Jeff Poor, Yellowhammer News, June 29, 2020

For the second consecutive day, Club for Growth Action, the federal super PAC associated with the Washington, D.C.- based Club for Growth, announced it was coming into play in Alabama politics in a significant way.

On Monday, Club for Growth announced it was launching television ads promoting the U.S. Senate candidacy of former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville. On Tuesday, the organization told Yellowhammer News exclusively it was starting television spots attacking Alabama Second Congressional District Republican hopeful Jeff Coleman for campaign contributions, specifically those given to former Democrat Hawaii governor and U.S. congressman Neil Abercrombie.

The 30-second spot focuses on Abercrombie’s support for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). It claims Coleman indirectly financially supported Pelosi while not offering any financial support for Donald Trump in his 2016 presidential bid against Hillary Clinton.

“Hawaii is a long way from Alabama,” the ad’s narrator says. “So why did Jeff Coleman give thousands in campaign cash to a liberal Democrat running for Congress there? True facts: The guy Coleman helped went on to back Nancy Pelosi for speaker. All tolled, Coleman has handed out $39,000 to candidates. But when Donald Trump faced Hillary Clinton, Coleman didn’t give him a dime. Jeff Coleman — his money helped Nancy Pelosi, not Donald Trump.”

Coleman faces former State Rep. Barry Moore on July 14 in a runoff election. The contest has not been without controversies. Last week, Alabama Daily News reported Moore failed to vote in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, despite having endorsed Trump very early on at a 2015 Trump rally in Mobile, one of the first of its kind for Trump.

Dalton Dismukes, Coleman’s campaign manager, referenced Moore’s lack of participation in Alabama’s 2016 GOP presidential primary in response to the Club for Growth Action ad through a statement given to Yellowhammer News.

“This ad is pretty rich just days after it was revealed that Trump-poser Barry Moore never even voted for him in the 2016 primary,” Dismukes said. “Now, he’s going on to embrace more big D.C. spending from the original #NeverTrump Super PAC. Jeff, like President Trump, is an outsider and successful businessman, who’s run a worldwide business that created jobs right here in AL-2. Barry is a backbench legislator, who’s spent more time figuring out how to get his name on a ballot over creating a single job. We’re confident voters will see the difference.”