PX column: Aftab Pureval builds war chest as outside groups spend big money attacking Chabot

Jason Williams | Cincinnati Enquirer

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Cincinnati's Aftab Pureval continues to raise money like no other Democrat ever has in a campaign for Ohio's 1st Congressional District seat.

Pureval raised $885,000 in the second quarter, and now has more than $1 million in the bank, his campaign manager Sarah Topy told Politics Extra on Tuesday.

That topped Pureval's first-quarter total of $660,000, a figure his campaign said at the time was an eight-week record for anyone running against long-time incumbent Steve Chabot.

The Westwood Republican plans to release his second quarter fundraising totals next week, Chabot campaign spokesman Cody Rizzuto said.

Pureval's campaign did not release details about specific donations in the second quarter, information the Federal Election Commission will make public on July 31. But Pureval's team continues to tout that most of his donations have come from the region.

"We've had thousands of grassroots donations from right here in Southwest Ohio because people are ready to change Washington, and they know that Aftab will deliver that change," Topy said in a statement. "He's made promises and kept those promises. Our campaign is powered by Ohio families, and we're excited for the momentum to continue."

Pureval, elected Hamilton County clerk of courts in 2016, has been able to build up his war chest while outside Democratic organizations pour money into the region. Two organizations, neither of which are affiliated with Pureval's campaign, have been targeting Chabot on health care. It's an issue Pureval also has aggressively pushed in his campaign.

Chabot, who seeks a 12th term, has been aligned with President Trump's agenda to repeal so-called Obamacare. Democrats hope to use that against Chabot, particularly with suburban women across a district that spans western and northern Hamilton County and all of Warren County.

Ohioans for Economic Opportunity has been hammering Chabot on his opposition to the Affordable Care Act, focusing on the fact people with pre-existing conditions could lose their health care if the law is repealed. The dark money group is scheduled to launch a $252,200 television ad on Thursday, said CEO Cliff Schecter, a national political strategist who lives in Hyde Park.

The group has spent $500,000 on TV and radio ads attacking Chabot since launching in May.

Separately, a Washington-based super PAC designed to help Democrats flip the House launched a $3 million ad campaign attacking Republicans in 12 districts on health care. Chabot's was among those targeted by the House Majority PAC, according to Politico.

Chabot's campaign fired back at the outside groups' ads. Campaign spokesman Rizzuto said in a statement:

First, it is important to note that this entire deceptive attack is about protecting Obamacare, which has been a disaster for this country. Consumers are paying far more for health care and getting far less for their money. Congressman Chabot believes that the American people deserve better than Obamacare, and he has voted to replace it with reforms that actually help working families by making health care more affordable. But, there are a lot of special interests in Washington who benefit financially from Obamacare, while American families suffer its consequences. These shadowy special interests desperately want to protect their golden goose, and so they are spending millions of dollars around the country to elect politicians like Aftab Pureval, who will do their bidding. These groups know the truth that Obamacare isn't the reform we were promised, and so they rely on lies, deceptive tactics and outrageous claims. It's nothing new really, as Obamacare proponents have been using these tactics since before the law was even passed. Remember: "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it," or how about: "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what's in it." The lies spewed in this latest ad are just more of the same.

Read more Politics Extra columns about the Pureval-Chabot race:

• Will Obama campaign for Pureval?

• Dems turn up heat on Chabot, new group targets his health care record

• What's behind GOP tax fight? Defeat Pureval

• See why it's possible Pureval could upset Chabot

• Pureval: Race not about abortion. Chabot: It is now

Politics Extra is a column looking inside Greater Cincinnati and Ohio politics. Follow Enquirer political columnist Jason Williams on Twitter @jwilliamscincy.