NORFOLK, Va. — A new day, a new political ad running on a TV near you. Not every commercial you see is paid for and endorsed by the candidates. Including this one about Virginia Second District Congresswoman Jen Kiggans.
This ad running on TV right now claims that the Republican Congresswoman is “one of the most bipartisan people of Congress.” But is that true?
Is Jen Kiggans one of the most bipartisan members of Congress?
Source: The Lugar Center
To verify, we checked with the Lugar Center. It issues an objective ranking each year for how often each member of Congress works across party lines.
Sure enough, Jen Kiggans ranked 19th out of 436 house members when it comes to working across the aisle.
So we can verify, yes, Congresswoman Kiggans is “one of the most bipartisan members of Congress.”
How about the rest of the ad? Is it even paid for and approved by Jen Kiggans? We can verify that no, it's actually paid for by "Winning For Women."
The organization advances and engages right-of-center women.
And despite mentioning Congresswoman Kiggans throughout the commercial and showing pictures and video of her, the call for action at the end of the ad isn’t for you to vote for her:
“Tell Congresswoman Kiggans to keep working to lower costs and support the Red Tape Reduction Act.”
An almost identical ad was also published online by a different organization, the American Action Network. It is also running in support of the Red Tape Reduction Act.
Does Congresswoman Jen Kiggans support the Red Tape Reduction Act?
The American Action Network is spending $12 million to air ads like this in 19 different Congressional districts, including Virginia’s District 2.
A campaign spokesperson said while he is not familiar with this particular bill, he said Kiggans “absolutely supports cutting red tape and allowing Virginia businesses to flourish.”
So more information is needed there.
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