Republicans are spending millions on ads that recount heinous crimes. Victims’ families say they didn’t agree to it

Neil Blake/The Grand Rapids Press/AP

When Robin Buonodono saw the TV spot, she felt like she couldn’t breathe. The ad described the 1994 murder of her 5-year-old daughter, Nicole VanNoty. The story of the killing had been repurposed as a political attack ad without her knowledge by a Republican super PAC seeking to defeat Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.

“I had a panic attack,” said Buonodono, who left Michigan after her daughter’s killing. “Why are you using someone’s child’s death for political gain?”

The Senate Leadership Fund spent at least $3.7 million on ads that recounted how Jason Symonds raped and killed Nicole. Buonodono said SLF never contacted her.

Stephanie Parshall/USA Today Network/Reuters

The ads, which began running in September, were among many funded by SLF, the Republican Party’s most powerful Senate super PAC, that turned real killings into attacks on Democratic Senate candidates in Michigan and North Carolina. A CNN review of ads using the tracking service AdImpact found SLF spent at least $17 million on spots naming victims or perpetrators.

In at least three cases, relatives said SLF never told them their loved ones’ deaths would be used. Family members who spoke to CNN described the spots as haunting, heartbreaking and distressing.

The ad campaign reflects a familiar Republican strategy: invoking violent crime to cast Democrats as soft on public safety. But the reach of streaming, digital and social platforms has made such messages harder for victims’ families to avoid and raises ethical questions about whether political groups – and some Republican campaigns – should seek consent before broadcasting a family’s trauma.

“These ads can circulate in so many different mediums and be present in ways they weren’t before social media,” said Daniel Kreiss, a professor of political communications at the University of North Carolina, who added that notifying a family before an advertisement airs is a matter of human decency.

“You owe it to those people, that family, to give them a heads up,” Kreiss said.

Senate Leadership Fund PAC via AdImpact

SLF, which is affiliated with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, has spent more than $325 million on political ads since the beginning of 2025 to defend the GOP’s Senate majority. It funded the ads examined here in Michigan and North Carolina. Across the political landscape, ad spending is on pace to top $11.6 billion this cycle, which would make this the most expensive election cycle in history, according to AdImpact.

The Senate Leadership Fund did not respond to questions about its advertising practices but provided a statement. “Every life lost to violent crime is an intolerable tragedy, made even worse when it is entirely preventable and the direct consequence of failed liberal policies,” communications director Chris Gustafson said.

In Michigan, SLF pledged $45 million — a state record — to support former Rep. Mike Rogers against El-Sayed, then added another $6 million in August.

SLF also spent roughly $2 million on Michigan ads recounting the 1999 rape and murder of Jessica Ledford. Her fiancé, Robert Homrich, said SLF never contacted him and that for awhile he saw the spots several times a day on YouTube.

“It’s haunting me every day,” Homrich, who still lives in Michigan, said. “They’re using my own personal tragedy to spin an election.”

The Michigan ads target El-Sayed’s 2018 proposal to commute life sentences for “low risk” people convicted as juveniles. The Supreme Court had ruled in 2012 mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juveniles unconstitutional, requiring states including Michigan to resentence such inmates.

Symonds, who was 16 when he killed Nicole, was ordered in August to remain in prison for life without parole. Marc Osborne, who killed Ledford shortly before his 18th birthday, is expected to become eligible for parole in 2039 after resentencing.

“Abdul believes we absolutely need to fund law enforcement to protect communities from violent crime,” said El-Sayed’s campaign spokesperson Cole Wozniak. “Mike Rogers and his allies will continue to tell absurd lies about Abdul’s record to distract from Rogers’ record of voting against funding for law enforcement.”

In response to CNN’s request for comment on this story, the Rogers campaign responded with a statement criticizing El-Sayed’s connections to super PACs.

Political Ad/Senate Leadership Fund

In North Carolina, SLF spent at least $4 million on ads that showed Jimmie Speight Jr. and said he “murdered an innocent man.” That man was Edmond Moore Jr. His mother, Pamela Moore, said SLF never contacted her.

“It’s heartbreaking, really. It’s heartbreaking and numb. How could you use a mother and a father’s son’s death to give yourself some credibility?” Moore said.

The ads blamed Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper for letting Speight out of prison. As governor, Cooper’s administration settled a pandemic-era lawsuit over prison crowding in 2021, leading to the release of roughly 3,500 inmates. But Speight had already been released from prison when the settlement was reached.

“Independent fact-checkers have called these attacks false and misleading – Michael Whatley and his allies are desperate and it’s shameful they are using heinous crimes to boost his campaign,” a Cooper campaign spokesperson said in a statement.

Whatley’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

Democrats have put out few advertisements this year that describe specific victims and crimes. One notable exception: Texas Senate candidate James Talarico’s campaign spent at least $5 million on an ad that criticizes his opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, for a plea deal his prosecutors offered a Waco attorney charged with sexually abusing a child. The deal has become a flashpoint in the race that could determine control of the US Senate.

Before this advertisement ran, a woman who said she was a spokesperson for the victim’s family posted on Facebook: “Note from the victims’ family: We have not given any statement to Talarico. We have not spoke to him. We are tired of being used in this election. We are tired of lies being told by both Paxton & Talarico, tired of the divide and just tired.” CNN has not been able to verify the post.

“Elected officials on both sides of the aisle have called out Ken Paxton for this corrupt plea deal. The judge presiding over the case has called out this plea deal. Residents of Waco have protested this plea deal. Texans are demanding justice to ensure this never happens to another family,” Talarico spokesperson JT Ennis said in a statement.

Republicans are leaning on crime because voters tend to trust the party more on the issue, said Travis Ridout, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project. The talking points also give the GOP a potential message at a time when they’re dealing with persistent inflation, high energy costs and an unpopular Republican president.

David Maxwell/AFP via Getty Images

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These types of soft-on-crime attacks have been a Republican staple for decades, from Richard Nixon’s “law and order” campaign to the 1988 Willie Horton ad against Michael Dukakis. Last month, President Donald Trump invoked Horton while campaigning for Whatley in North Carolina, arguing that Cooper had failed to keep the state safe.

That attack ad featured Horton, a black man imprisoned for murder who was convicted of rape and assault after he failed to return from a Massachusetts prison furlough. While widely criticized as racist, it proved effective: Dukakis was leading in the polls, but after the ad aired, George H.W. Bush overtook him and went on to a landslide victory.

In that speech, Trump also cited the 2025 murder of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on a commuter train in Charlotte. Video captured the moment that Decarlos Brown Jr. stabbed Zarutska – footage that was used in an ad funded by Whatley’s campaign without Zarutska’s family’s consent.

“We’ve been very clear: We do not want her death to be political. It’s a public safety issue,” said the family’s attorney Lauren Newton. “No one asked us.”

CNN’s Casey Tolan and Dianne Gallagher contributed to this report.

尼尔·布莱克/《大急流城新闻报》/美联社

罗宾·布奥诺多诺看到电视广告时，感觉喘不过气来。广告讲述了她5岁的女儿妮可·范诺蒂在1994年被谋杀的案件。共和党超级政治行动委员会未经她同意，擅自将这起谋杀案改编成政治攻击广告，意图击败密歇根州民主党参议员候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德。

“我当时恐慌症发作了，”布奥诺多诺说道，她的女儿遇害后，她离开了密歇根州。“你们为什么要利用别人孩子的死来谋取政治利益？”

参议院领导基金至少花费了370万美元用于广告宣传，讲述杰森·西蒙兹如何强奸并杀害了妮可。布奥诺多诺表示，参议院领导基金从未联系过她。

斯蒂芬妮·帕歇尔/今日美国网/路透社

这些广告从9月开始投放，是共和党最有影响力的参议院超级政治行动委员会“支持民主党”（SLF）资助的众多广告之一。这些广告将真实的谋杀案包装成对密歇根州和北卡罗来纳州民主党参议员候选人的攻击。美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）使用广告追踪服务AdImpact对这些广告进行审查后发现，SLF至少花费了1700万美元用于投放点名受害者或犯罪者的广告。

至少有三起案例中，家属表示SLF从未告知他们亲人的死亡画面会被用于此类用途。接受CNN采访的家属形容这些画面令人毛骨悚然、心碎不已、痛苦万分。

这场广告宣传活动体现了共和党一贯的策略：利用暴力犯罪来抹黑民主党在公共安全问题上的软弱无力。但流媒体、数字和社交平台的广泛传播，使得受害者家属更难回避此类信息，同时也引发了伦理方面的质疑：政治团体——以及一些共和党竞选活动——在传播受害者家属的创伤经历之前，是否应该征得他们的同意。

“这些广告可以通过多种不同的媒介传播，并以社交媒体出现之前从未有过的方式呈现，”北卡罗来纳大学政治传播学教授丹尼尔·克雷斯说，他还补充说，在广告播出前通知相关家庭是出于人道主义考虑。

“你有责任提前通知那些人、那个家庭，”克雷斯说。

参议院领导基金政治行动委员会（通过 AdImpact）

与参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩关系密切的SLF自2025年初以来已花费超过3.25亿美元用于政治广告，以捍卫共和党在参议院的多数席位。本文分析的密歇根州和北卡罗来纳州的广告均由SLF资助。据AdImpact统计，本轮选举周期内，整个政治领域的广告支出预计将超过116亿美元，这将使其成为历史上最昂贵的选举周期。

参议院领导基金没有回应有关其广告宣传做法的问题，但发表了一份声明。通讯主任克里斯·古斯塔夫森表示：“每一条因暴力犯罪而逝去的生命都是一场令人无法容忍的悲剧，而当这种悲剧完全可以避免，并且是自由派政策失败的直接后果时，就更加令人痛心。”

在密歇根州，SLF承诺投入4500万美元（创下该州纪录）支持前众议员迈克·罗杰斯对抗埃尔-赛义德，然后在8月份又追加了600万美元。

SLF还花费了大约200万美元在密歇根州投放广告，讲述1999年杰西卡·莱德福德被强奸谋杀的案件。她的未婚夫罗伯特·霍姆里奇表示，SLF从未联系过他，而且有一段时间，他每天都会在YouTube上看到这些广告好几次。

“这件事每天都困扰着我，”仍然住在密歇根州的霍姆里奇说。“他们利用我的个人悲剧来操纵选举。”

密歇根州的广告针对的是埃尔-赛义德2018年提出的提案，该提案旨在将“低风险”未成年人罪犯的终身监禁减刑。最高法院曾在2012年裁定，对未成年人强制判处终身监禁不得假释违宪，并要求包括密歇根州在内的各州对这类罪犯重新量刑。

西蒙兹在杀害妮可时年仅16岁，于8月被判处终身监禁，不得假释。马克·奥斯本在即将年满18岁时杀害了莱德福德，预计在重新量刑后，他将于2039年获得假释资格。

“阿卜杜勒认为我们绝对需要为执法部门提供资金，以保护社区免受暴力犯罪的侵害，”埃尔-赛义德的竞选发言人科尔·沃兹尼亚克说。“迈克·罗杰斯和他的盟友将继续散布关于阿卜杜勒政绩的荒谬谎言，以转移人们对罗杰斯投票反对为执法部门提供资金这一记录的注意力。”

针对 CNN 对此事的置评请求，罗杰斯竞选团队发表声明，批评埃尔-赛义德与超级政治行动委员会的关系。

政治广告/参议院领导基金

在北卡罗来纳州，SLF至少花费了400万美元投放广告，广告中出现了小吉米·斯佩特（Jimmie Speight Jr.）的形象，并声称他“谋杀了一名无辜者”。而这名无辜者正是小埃德蒙·摩尔（Edmond Moore Jr.）。他的母亲帕梅拉·摩尔（Pamela Moore）表示，SLF从未联系过她。

“这真是令人心碎。既令人心碎又令人麻木。你怎么能利用一对父母儿子的死来为自己博取信任呢？”摩尔说道。

这些广告指责民主党参议员候选人罗伊·库珀释放了斯佩特。库珀担任州长期间，其政府于2021年就一起疫情期间监狱拥挤问题达成和解，导致约3500名囚犯获释。但斯佩特在和解达成时已经出狱。

库珀竞选团队发言人在一份声明中表示：“独立事实核查人员称这些攻击是虚假和误导性的——迈克尔·沃特利和他的盟友们已经走投无路，他们利用令人发指的罪行来提升他的竞选活动，这令人感到羞耻。”

沃特利的竞选团队没有回应置评请求。

今年，民主党很少发布描述具体受害者和罪行的广告。一个值得注意的例外是：德克萨斯州参议员候选人詹姆斯·塔拉里科的竞选团队花费至少500万美元制作了一则广告，批评他的对手、德克萨斯州总检察长肯·帕克斯顿，指责其检察官与一名被控性侵儿童的韦科律师达成了认罪协议。这项协议已成为这场可能决定美国参议院控制权的竞选中的一个焦点。

在这则广告播出前，一位自称是受害者家属发言人的女子在Facebook上发帖称：“受害者家属声明：我们没有向塔拉里科发表任何声明，也没有和他交谈过。我们厌倦了在这场选举中被利用。我们厌倦了帕克斯顿和塔拉里科的谎言，厌倦了分裂，我们真的太累了。” CNN尚未能核实该帖子的真实性。

“两党民选官员都谴责肯·帕克斯顿达成的这项腐败认罪协议。审理此案的法官也对这项认罪协议提出质疑。韦科市居民抗议这项认罪协议。德州民众要求伸张正义，以确保此类悲剧不再发生在其他家庭身上，”塔拉里科发言人JT·恩尼斯在一份声明中表示。

卫斯理大学媒体项目联合主任特拉维斯·里杜特表示，共和党之所以将犯罪问题作为竞选重点，是因为选民往往更信任该党在这个问题上的立场。此外，在当前持续通货膨胀、能源成本高企以及共和党总统支持率低迷的情况下，这些论点也为共和党提供了一个潜在的宣传信息。

David Maxwell/AFP via Getty Images

CNN民调显示，民众渴望变革和反特朗普情绪推动民主党在中期选举中占据优势。

几十年来，共和党一直惯用这种对犯罪行为软弱的攻击手段，从理查德·尼克松的“法律与秩序”竞选到1988年威利·霍顿针对迈克尔·杜卡基斯的竞选广告，莫不如此。上个月，唐纳德·特朗普总统在北卡罗来纳州为沃特利助选时也提到了霍顿，声称库珀未能保障该州的安全。

那则攻击性广告的主角是霍顿，他是一名黑人，因谋杀罪入狱，在马萨诸塞州监狱假释期间未按时归队后，又被判犯有强奸和袭击罪。尽管这则广告被广泛批评为种族歧视，但它却取得了成功：杜卡基斯当时在民调中领先，但在广告播出后，老布什反超了他，并最终赢得了压倒性胜利。

在那次演讲中，特朗普还提到了2025年发生在夏洛特通勤列车上的23岁女子伊琳娜·扎鲁茨卡被谋杀的事件。视频记录了德卡洛斯·布朗刺伤扎鲁茨卡的瞬间——这段视频未经扎鲁茨卡家人同意，就被沃特利的竞选团队用于广告宣传中。

“我们已经非常明确地表明了立场：我们不希望她的死被政治化。这是一个公共安全问题，”家属的律师劳伦·牛顿说。“没有人征求过我们的意见。”

CNN的凯西·托兰和黛安·加拉格尔对本报道亦有贡献。