President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Nov. 3 to question whether Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly (D) is “trying to steal the election.”
The President’s post came after dozens of Facebook advertisements against Indiana’s GOP candidate for Senate Mike Braun were revealed to have been funded by the Indiana Democratic Party. Numerous ads showed support for Indiana’s Libertarian candidate Lucy Brenton while others were posted from a page misleadingly named “Hoosier Conservatives.”
The Daily Beast had reported on Nov. 2 that the ads appeared to be a last-minute attempt by the Democrats to split the Republican vote and boost the “long-shot Libertarian candidate” Brenton in the tight race for the Senate seat in the Hoosier state.
“Rumor has it that Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana is paying for Facebook ads for his so-called opponent on the libertarian ticket. Donnelly is trying to steal the election? Isn’t that what Russia did!?” Trump wrote on Twitter about the tactic on Nov. 3.
The Indiana Democratic Party has since confirmed that it paid for the ads, The Associated Press reported on Nov. 4. Fine print at the top of the Facebook ads did say “authorized by Donnelly for Indiana.”
The contest for the Indiana seat is a close one, and has been rated as a “toss up” by the Cook Political Report.
Republicans hope to expand on their 51-49 majority in the Senate at the midterm elections on Nov. 6.
Lucy Brenton Calls Out ‘Dirty Politics’ on Donnelly for Indiana Ads
Indiana’s Democratic Party started funding the Facebook ads on Nov. 1 on two Facebook pages, “Hoosier Conservatives” and “Tax Hike Mike Braun.” The slew of ads appear to question how Braun, a former Democrat party voter, turned conservative upon entering public office while encouraging voters to back Libertarian Party Lucy Brenton. President Trump has backed Braun as his preferred Senate candidate.
One of the ads funded by Donnelly’s campaign reads: “Mike Braun will say anything to get elected, but the fact is that he was an active Democrat for decades, and voted to raise your taxes 159 times.”
Braun was registered as a Democrat before he entered public office in 2012. He told the Dubois County Herald in 2017 that he voted blue for local races but always voted Republican in general elections.
The Donnelly-backed ad also made the claim that Libertarian Party candidate Lucy Brenton was the “true anti-tax conservative.”
Another Donnelly for Indiana ad spread the message that Braun “likely vot[ed] for Hillary Clinton. Vote your values on November 6.”
According to Facebook’s ad analytics and archive, some of the dozens of ads cost $100 to $499 while others cost $1,000 to $5,000. In some instances, a given ad reached between 10,000 and 50,000 people.
Lucy Brenton disapproved of Donnelly’s campaign tactics. She wrote to the Democrat-funded page “Tax Hike Mike Braun” on Nov. 3: “NOT HAPPY that the Democrats are using me to attack Mike Braun. I hate dirty politics. I did not know they were doing this and do not approve of it.”
Brenton also alerted voters to other mailed campaign material that called Braun “The Tax Hike King of Indiana” while saying that Lucy Brenton is “opposed to tax hikes.”
“Lots of dark money in this race….they are scared of Libertarian Party (they should be) and pulling a dirty trick. Don’t be fooled—Democrats are doing this to make you think Libertarians sent them so you will be mad and not vote for us so their guy wins and they keep raising your taxes. We didn’t send these. These mailers are accurate, however,” Brenton wrote on Facebook on Nov. 5, a day before the midterm elections.
According to Facebook’s ad analytics and archive, some of the dozens of ads cost $100 to $499 while others cost $1,000 to $5,000. In some instances, a given ad reached between 10,000 and 50,000 people.
The Indiana Democratic Party said in a statement sighted by the Hill: “The ads highlighting how Lucy Brenton is the true conservative in the Indiana Senate race are paid for by the Indiana Democratic Party.
“They are perfectly legal, factual, and accurately represent Lucy Brenton’s anti-tax record. These ads draw attention to Rep. Braun’s record of voting to raise taxes on Hoosiers dozens of times as a State Representative while writing legislation to give himself tax breaks.”
Facebook User Reviews
Both of the Facebook pages, which were created on Oct. 31, appear to be “nothing but platforms for the Democratic ads they’re hosting,” The Daily Beast reported.
Reviews on both Facebook pages also spotted the misleading nature of the page, calling out the Democrats on their campaign tactics.
“If the mailers I’ve been receiving are any indication, this is a plant page by the Indiana Democrat Party. They say the same things, and proclaim in the fine print that the IDC paid for them.
“Since they don’t have the integrity to compare their candidate to Ms Brenton, you can rest assured they are full of many other misleading ‘facts,'” one comment on the “Tax Hike Mike Braun” Facebook page reads.
“Yet another deceitful page by the Democrats because their guy has absolutely nothing to be proud of or to show for in the United States Senate,” another user commented on the page.
The “Hoosiers Conservatives” page also garnered comments calling it out as a fake.
“These are not conservatives. It’s a dirty trick to split the vote. They want you to vote for Lucy Brenton to take away votes from Mike Braun, in hopes Donnelly will win,” one comment on the page “Hoosier Conservatives” reads. “DNC, Hoosiers won’t fall for your dirty tricks! Go away Joe!”
Another comment read: “This is a page set up by the Democrats and authorized by Joe Donnelly. Do you really trust the man who voted against Kavanaugh and for Hillary Clinton & Nancy Pelosi to know anything about being a Hoosier Conservative?”
