It has been called the House version of an election between President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama, and now a Trump-aligned group is going to bat for the GOP candidate who helped turn Michigan red in the 2016 election.

In a new TV ad starting today, the super PAC America First Action is expanding its $850,000 effort to help Lena Epstein in Michigan’s 11th District, a slightly Republican area in the central Detroit suburbs that Trump won by 4.4 percent.





In the new ad, the group that is spending a total of nearly $20 million to help Trump backed candidates rips Democratic challenger and former Obama aide Haley Stevens for her ties to liberals like Hillary Rodham Clinton. It dubs her “a new generation of liberal.”

America First Action’s Alex Titus said, “This spending is a significant and sizeable investment in helping Republicans hold the House — and Michigan will also be important to our 2020 efforts.”

He added, “America First Action will continue to closely watch both the House and Senate where we see both a need and opportunity to help expand Republican majorities.”

Local media have highlighted the backgrounds of the two candidates to suggest it is as close to a Trump versus Obama race as any in the nation.

Epstein helped Trump win the 2016 primary, the first by a Republican since 1988. She was the Trump Michigan campaign’s co-chair. Stevens was a top aide on Obama’s auto task force which provided the bailouts to General Motors and Chrysler.

What’s more, the district is home to Republican Party Chair Ronna McDaniel, who would obviously want to win the seat held by retiring Republican Rep. Dave Trott.

The new ad will run from Oct. 2-15th on three networks including cable and broadcast. In addition, the group told Secrets that it will be uploading digital advertising advertising and drop mailers throughout the district.

Despite the showdown, the America First Action is the only conservative outside organization that is currently spending in the district.

A victory, said the group, will bolster Trump’s efforts to keep Michigan in his column.