Low politics as a congressman is linked to child molesters in a rival’s TV ad
- House Republicans launch a television ad linking Democratic Representative David Cicilline to a child molester, murderer and predator
- Cicilline worked as a criminal defense attorney twenty years ago, defending felons
- The ad is designed to bolster GOP chief hopeful Brendan Doherty, the former chief of state police, in his first run for office
What do a child molester, a murderer and a predator have in common?
Democratic Rep. David Cicilline, according to House Republicans who ran a TV ad in Rhode Island this week linking them.
The ad harks back to the novice lawyer’s time two decades ago defending hardened criminals and aims to bolster GOP hopeful Brendan Doherty.
Still from the ad linking David Cicilline to child molesters
Former State Police Chief Doherty is running for office for the first time.
The ad commemorates an attack on Doherty’s own campaign launched last week, which featured a photo of Cicilline on screen alongside the words “rapists, pedophiles and murderers”.
Nationally, Democrats are not expected to regain control of the House of Representatives in Tuesday’s election. But Cicilline’s seat in tiny, liberal-leaning Rhode Island would be a victory for Republicans, who have not won a seat in the House to represent the state since 1992.
The GOP sees this year as its best shot since, and both national parties poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into television advertising in the final week of the race.
Republican congressional candidate Brendan Doherty, left, and incumbent U.S. Rep. David Cicilline, DR.I., right, participate in a televised debate
The NRCC ad is “one of the most poignant ads I’ve seen in Rhode Island politics,” said former Democratic Congressman Bob Weygand.
He said defense attorneys don’t necessarily like their clients, but their job is to defend them and that shouldn’t affect them personally.
The Democratic Party’s campaign committee called the ad “the worst kind of gutter politics,” while Cicilline campaign manager Eric Hyers said voters deserve a debate on these issues.
The Cicilline campaign ran an ad Wednesday that focused on the Republican ads and said Doherty “doesn’t want to talk about his agenda.”
When asked about the fairness of an ad attacking a lawyer for defending defendants, NRCC spokesman Nat Sillin criticized Cicilline for choosing to fight “for violent criminals” over victims.
“David Cicilline has chosen to represent convicted child molesters and murders. He’s decided to make a career out of it,” he said.
It’s “one of the sharpest ads I’ve ever seen in Rhode Island politics,” former Democratic Congressman Bob Weygand told the Washington Post, adding that Cicilline’s job shouldn’t fall back on him personally.
