Patients for Affordable Drugs Now, an advocacy group seeking policies that would lower the price of prescription drugs, announced a six-figure digital ad buy supporting Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford, who has cosponsored a bill that would allow the government to negotiate lower prices through Medicare. 

Horsford, among two Democrats elected in competitive Nevada congressional districts in 2018, has become the target of Republican efforts to take back the swingy 4th District, which — in addition to including much of North Las Vegas — also comprises a large portion of Nevada’s rural center. 

The ads, among the first from an outside group to hit the internet in the 2020 race for control of Congress, praise Horsford for his support of H.R. 3, a bill dubbed the “Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019.” Sponsored by Democratic New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone and spearheaded by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the bill would, among other things, establish a mechanism by which the federal government could negotiate a “reasonable maximum” price for drugs for Americans covered by Medicare. 

The bill would also seek to penalize non-compliant drug companies, charging fines of 65 percent of the profits of a drug in question, adding 10 percent per year the company defies the government-mandated maximum price. 

Horsford is among 56 other representatives, all Democrats, who have signed onto the bill as cosponsors. House Republicans, meanwhile, have decried the measure as partisan politics, with members on the House Energy and Commerce Committee complaining that Pelosi has excluded them from “closed-door” negotiations. 

Patients for Affordable Drugs Now Executive Director Ben Wakana said the campaign being launched now is an extension of a similar effort the group launched over the summer, which lauded a GOP effort in the Senate aimed at “holding PhRMA’s price increases in check” through downward pressure. 

The 30 second spots show the testimonials of two women, Jackie and Gail, who discuss the rising costs of their chemotherapy and insulin medication, respectively, before touting Horsford’s support of H.R. 3.  

Watch the ads below: