Rep. Eli Crane targeted by TV ads from group linked to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy

A nonprofit linked to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is running ads against Rep. Eli Crane, a freshman member of Congress who last year voted to oust McCarthy from the GOP’s top House leadership post.

The ads target the freshman congressman’s district, “hitting Eli Crane for voting against border funding,” according to communications from the media buyer obtained by The Arizona Republic.

The group behind the ads is American Prosperity Alliance, a nonprofit that has allegedly gotten involved in GOP primaries on McCarthy’s behalf, the Washington Post has reported. The ads were scheduled to run starting on Wednesday, April 17, according to the communications sent Tuesday.

The news comes after media reports that McCarthy and his allies are looking to unseat Crane, R-Ariz., and other Republicans who voted to remove McCarthy, R-Calif., from his job as House speaker. Crane is facing a primary challenge from former Yavapai County Supervisor Jack Smith.

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Zach Kahler, a spokesperson for Crane’s campaign, confirmed Tuesday evening that the campaign was aware of the ad buy, which it said is worth a quarter of a million dollars.

“My voters are not easily fooled, so they’ll see through this deceitful and coordinated attempt to smear me. I’m proud to fight for rural Arizona. My opponent is bought and paid for, and this is an attack funded by one of the shady groups behind his campaign,” Crane said in a written statement.

Smith wrote in response: "I was proud to serve Arizona as a member of President Trump's administration and Yavapai County as a supervisor. Eli Crane, on the other hand, doesn't even live in our district and has shown time and again he's more interested in playing political games in DC than representing rural Arizona in Congress."

The Pima County Recorder's Office confirmed that Crane is registered to vote at an address in the Tucson area, well outside his district, which stretches across much of northern and eastern Arizona.

In 2019, Smith was tapped by then-President Donald Trump to serve as the Arizona state director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development program.

Of the eight Republican lawmakers who voted to remove McCarthy from his post, Crane, the group’s only freshman member, is seen as one of the most vulnerable to an electoral challenge.

It was not immediately clear which of Crane’s votes the ads will reference. Like many in the hardline House Freedom Caucus, Crane has made immigration a centerfold of his political platform, but he came out against the recent Senate-brokered border deal that marked one of the most comprehensive immigration reform efforts in recent years. Crane criticized the bill, which never reached the House floor, over its provision of military funding for Ukraine as that country aims to fend off Russia’s invasion.

Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District, which Crane represents, includes Apache, Coconino, Gila, Navajo and Yavapai counties with portions of Graham, Maricopa, Mohave and Pinal counties.

Jonathan Nez, a former Navajo Nation President, is running for the Democratic nomination.

Laura Gersony covers national politics for the Arizona Republic. Contact her at lgersony@gannett.com or 480-372-0389.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: McCarthy-linked group runs ads against Eli Crane