Conservative Group Takes Aim at Democratic ‘Wokeism’ With Ads Targeting Latino Voters

A group of Republican political operatives has launched an ad campaign targeting what it calls “wokeism” with diatribes against hot-button issues such as transgender rights — and among its first intended targets are Latino voters in border-state congressional districts. Citizens for Sanity, a so-called dark money nonprofit named as such because it is not required to release information on its donors, has already bought billboard space in several major U.S. cities and advertising in local papers in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Next up: a television campaign.A Spanish-language ad placed in the McAllen Monitor newspaper on the U.S.-Mexico border, for example, reads, “Progressives Unite. This November, all Latinx voters should support pregnant men and the right of pre-schoolers to select their own gender.”McAllen is the largest city in Texas’s 15th congressional district, which stretches northward through rural Texas to the outskirts of San Antonio. The seat has been held by Democrats since it was created in 1903.Following redistricting, the incumbent, Democrat Vicente Gonzalez, is running against Republican Mayra Flores in the neighboring 34th district in the general election. In the 15th district, Republican Monica de la Cruz and Democrat Michelle Vallejo are the candidates.The district — which President Trump lost handily in 2016 and then won in 2020 — epitomizes the rise of GOP fortunes among conservative Latinos in South Texas. Mr. Gonzalez won re-election in 2018 by 21 points. He won again in 2020, but by only three points. Political forecasters say the race at the moment is leaning toward a Republican victory in November.According to Politico, which first reported on the group’s plans, Citizens for Sanity has been working with Republican operatives to place ad campaigns in contested congressional districts, beginning with those in Latino-heavy districts in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona. A mission statement on its website says the group wants to “defeat ‘wokeism’ and anti-critical thinking ideologies that have permeated every sector of our country and threaten the very freedoms that are foundational to the American Dream.”Beyond South Texas, Citizens for Sanity has been buying billboards in major markets that poke fun at progressive shibboleths such as criminal justice reform, transgender issues, and climate change. A billboard that appeared alongside highways in Philadelphia and Detroit reads, “Violent criminals deserve our passion and respect. This fall, stand strong for progressive values.” Another, in Philadelphia and Chicago, reads, “Protect pregnant men from climate discrimination,” and one in Atlanta says, “Open the jails. Open the borders. Close the schools. Vote progressive this November.”The group now wants to put its message on the airwaves with a six-figure ad buy, beginning with a spot that ridicules transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. “Woke, left-wing politicians are destroying girls’ sports,” the ad claims. “Tell Biden and his radical allies, No more men in girls’ sports.”A consultant for the group, Ian Prior, is executive director of Fight for Schools, a Virginia nonprofit that helped propel Governor Youngkin into office in 2021 by making critical race theory and other identity political issues in schools a centerpiece of the campaign. “The woke ideology of sheltered white liberals is a mortal threat to American liberty, security and prosperity,” Mr. Prior said in a statement, according to Politico.“Citizens for Sanity is not an ideological organization: we stand for reason, common sense, objectivity, equality, the neutral rule of law, and open scientific inquiry — everything the radical left now stands implacably against,” he added. “And we are using these messaging campaigns to alert Americans to the urgent need to defeat and repudiate woke insanity before it destroys America.”Correction: Republican Monica de la Cruz and Democrat Michelle Vallejo are the candidates in Texas’s 15th congressional district in November. The incumbent in the 15th district, Democrat Vicente Gonzalez, is running against Republican Mayra Flores in the neighboring 34th district in the general election. An earlier version of this article misstated the candidates in the 15th district.

Conservative Group Takes Aim at Democratic ‘Wokeism’ With Ads Targeting Latino Voters

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