A new ad by Club for Growth, a conservative pro-taxpayer, political action committee, takes aim at Wendy Davis’ lavish expenditures during her time in the Texas Senate.
Davis is currently running as the Democrat candidate for Congressional District 21 against incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy.
The television spot, titled “Selfish”, highlights Davis’ use of campaign funds for personal expenses while in office. Specifically, the ad targets her use of “rent on a trendy Austin apartment, a car, and high-end furniture.”
The use of campaign funds for personal or lavish expenses isn’t isolated to Davis, as the practice has become all too common among Texas politicians. State Rep. Dan Flynn (R–Van) was taken to task earlier this year for shelling out six-figure amounts from his campaign fund to travel to conferences all over the world, spending nearly $200,000 on Austin living expenses and $30,000 on furniture, $14,000 on cookies, and even paying for a Netflix subscription with his campaign account. Flynn was defeated in the primary runoff election last month by Bryan Slaton.
In 2013, Davis held a filibuster of pro-life legislation in the Texas Senate that catapulted her as a darling of liberals across the country. At the time, however, that didn’t translate to many fans in the Lone Star State. Shortly after, Davis failed to parlay her five minutes of fame into a run for governor in 2014. Davis lost to then-Attorney General Greg Abbott by more than 20 percentage points.
Since her failed run, Davis moved from Fort Worth to Central Texas, seeing an opportunity for a potential political resurrection in a run for Congress. Congressional District 21, which touches both the Austin and San Antonio metropolitan areas, was listed among the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee’s top six targets for Democrats to flip in 2020, after Democrats successfully flipped two formerly Republican congressional seats in 2018.
Early voting in the general election begins on October 13, with election day on November 3.