Attack Ads Hit John Avlon in His House Primary Bid in New York
Nancy Goroff, who has contributed $1.2 million of her own money to her campaign, has recently run a string of attacks against John Avlon
For months, the Democratic contest on eastern Long Island to choose a candidate most capable of unseating Representative Nick LaLota, the Republican incumbent, has been cordial, if not overly polite.
Debates between the two Democratic candidates, John Avlon and Nancy Goroff, have focused on bigger-picture national issues, such as abortion, as well as local concerns, like the rising cost of living, with neither of them pursuing a scorched-earth strategy.
But in the final days before the primary on June 25, the tone has begun to change.
Ms. Goroff, who has contributed $1.2 million to her campaign, has run a string of attacks against Mr. Avlon in recent weeks. Mailers sent out by a PAC in support of Ms. Goroff have featured images of a laughing Rudolph W. Giuliani — whom Mr. Avlon worked for as a policy adviser and a speechwriter — perched on Mr. Avlon’s shoulder. Television ads from Ms. Goroff’s campaign have accused Mr. Avlon of supporting Republican efforts to slash Medicare benefits and have said that he ran a “dark money group.”
Mr. Avlon said his opponent’s attacks are part of a “relentlessly negative tenor” that has characterized the final days of the campaign.
Negative messaging has also played a role in Mr. Avlon’s strategy: He has consistently noted that Ms. Goroff, the 2020 Democratic nominee in the district, lost that contest by 10 points — an attack line that Ms. Goroff has tried to brush off as “objectionable and mansplaining” during a debate.
Welcome PAC, a group that works on a “range of Democratic and nonpartisan initiatives across the country,” has also run a series of ads on Mr. Avlon’s behalf highlighting Ms. Goroff’s 2020 loss.
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