MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The mayor of Waukesha on Wednesday condemned a campaign ad run by an independent Republican group that links Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin to the murders of six people during a 2021 Christmas parade in this Wisconsin city.
Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly called the ad a “pathetic political tool” that “not only hurts the families who were killed, or the ones who were injured, or the ones who even saw it, but it hurts the entire community.”
Baldwin faces Republican Eric Hovde in one of the most Hotly contested senatorial elections in the country this year. The race is crucial for Democrats to retain majority control of the Senate.
The ad, which began airing across Wisconsin last week, was funded by One Nation, a super PAC aligned with Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“This ad highlighted Senator Baldwin’s vote against increasing funding for pretrial detention for violent criminals and included a call to action at the end,” said Torunn Sinclair, a spokesperson for One Nation. “It’s not political.”
She said the ad stopped airing on Monday. It was still visible online on Wednesday.
Reilly said in a telephone interview that “our pain and suffering from the 2021 Waukesha Christmas parade is once again being used by unscrupulous people to influence votes.”
Reilly referred to a joint statement released by Baldwin and Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson shortly after the 2021 parade killings, urging no one to use it for political purposes.
“I hope Eric Hovde will also support Senator Johnson’s remarks,” Reilly said. “No politician should allow the attack on the Waukesha Christmas parade and its impact on our community to be used to sway votes by creating fear and loathing in order to deliberately create division.”
Hovde campaign spokesman Ben Voelkel did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Baldwin’s campaign also came out against the ad.
“Using the attack for political gain is not only reprehensible, but deeply hurtful to a community still recovering from the tragedy of that day,” said Andrew Mamo, a spokesman for his campaign.
Reilly was formerly a Republican, but he disavowed the party after the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. He has declared himself an independent and is supporting Baldwin in the Senate race.
The ad shows footage of the Waukesha Christmas parade in November 2021 after Darrell Brooks Jr. drove his SUV onto the parade route, killing six people. Brooks was convicted to six consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
“This should never have happened,” the ad’s narrator says over the sound of sirens and video footage of people running along the parade route and people hovering over those hit by the SUV. The narrator adds that Brooks was released on $1,000 bail a few days earlier after trying to run over his girlfriend with the same car.
The ad then shows an image of Baldwin on the Senate floor, with the narrator saying she voted against funding…
