Hagerty goes negative on Sethi over $50 donation in 2008
U.S. Senate candidate Bill Hagerty is attacking GOP rival in a new TV ad over a $50 donation made a dozen years ago. The spot running in West Tennessee says Sethi gave to an organization that is directing money to violent protesters around the country.
“Sethi has donated to the organization that has bankrolled these rioters, aiding liberal extremists,” Joseph James, a veteran from Hendersonville, says in the spot. “Tennessee deserves a senator who respects our sacrifices and honors our flag. That is why I support Bill Hagerty. ”
The organization in question is ActBlue, an online fundraiser for liberal candidates and causes. ActBlue has seen a flood of donations pour in amid the Black Lives Matter protests around the country, according to the New York Times.
Sethi gave $50 through the group in 2008 to support Virginia congressional candidate Tom Perriello, a Democrat who narrowly defeated inclubmetn Republican Rep. Virgil Goode. Sethi has since made $33,584 in GOP contributions, including to Rick Perry, Bob Corker, Marsha Blackburn, Cindy Hyde-Smith, and Donald Trump.
So how long will be it be until the Sethi camp hits back with a spot about Hagerty once giving $1,000 to Al Gore?
UPDATE: Looks like the Sethi campaign was ready for attack ads:
UPDATE II: Here’s a response from the Hagerty campaign:
Of course, Bill worked to defeat Barack Obama in 2012, unlike Massachusetts Manny Sethi who applied to be in the Obama Biden White House. Manny Sethi’s Never Trumpers have been attacking Bill since the day President Trump endorsed and announced his run for Senate. President Trump looked at all the candidates in this race, and he endorsed Bill because he trusts Bill to stand with him to protect conservative values, get our economy going again, hold China accountable, and stand up for life.
Sethi was a finalist for a prestigious White House Fellowship in 2009, when Obama was president. The fellowships are “awarded on a strictly non-partisan basis,” according to the White House. Hagerty was a White House fellow in 1991, when Republican George H.W. Bush was president.
The man from TAKL: Senate majority leader appears in TV ad for employer
Jack Johnson isn’t just the state Senate majority leader. He’s also a TV pitchman for his employer, Takl.
“Growing a business is tough,” Johnson (R-Franklin) says in the ad, according to The Tennessean. “Sometimes you have to think outside the box.”
The Franklin based company is owned Willis Johnson (no relation to Jack Johnson), who gave $8,000 to Gov. Bill Lee’s gubernatorial campaign in 2018, the paper report.
Johnson was chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee when the panel first advanced a 2018 bill to exempt “marketplace platforms” like Takl, Shipt, TaskRabbit, Handy, and Postmates, from traditional employee requirements by declaring their workers to independent contractors.
The measure became law despite concerns raised by then-Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration that the measure threatened to unravel social safety net provisions for employees, including minimum wage requirements, overtime pay, health insurance, unemployment insurance, and worker’s compensation coverage.
The bill was sponsored by Senate Finance Chairman Bo Watson (R-Hixson). Johnson disclosed his role in the company that could benefit from the law change, but did not abstain from voting in favor of the measure.
See the ad here.
