WASHINGTON: In Republican hands for 28 years but now up for grabs, a suburban Missouri congressional district hugging St. Louis has become a lab for what each party considers one of its most lethal political weapons.
TV ads by GOP Rep. Ann Wagner show protesters stomping a police car as the narrator accuses Democratic challenger Jill Schupp of support from radical defund the police organizations. A Schupp spot says Wagner voted against people with preexisting conditions during COVID. The coronavirus causes COVID-19.
The pattern is similar outside Philadelphia, where GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick accuses Democratic challenger Christina Finelo of supporting police defunding. Finelo’s first ad says Fitzpatrick’s backed ending coverage for people with preexisting conditions. Each contests the other’s charge.
Scores of…