One of the daughters of Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Hogan rises to his defense in a new television ad released Friday by her father's campaign, criticizing Democrat Anthony Brown for what she calls an attempt to "frighten women" on women's health issues.
The ad featuring Jaymi Sterling, one of Hogan's three adult daughters, seeks to counter recent Brown ads questioning Hogan's views on abortion rights and contraception based on policy positions he staked out more than 20 years ago. Early in his political career, Hogan expressed support for a ban on abortions in a Prince George's County hospital except to save the life of the mother. He also endorsed a so-called "personhood" amendment that would grant an unborn child rights from the time of conception, possibly outlawing some forms of birth control.
In the ad, Sterling insists that "these ads attacking him as anti-woman are just wrong."
Sterling says Hogan is "the only candidate who favors over-the-counter birth control, covered by insurance, and he is committed to not changing current Maryland law on choice."
Hogan's daughter gives her father an intensely personal testimonial on his respect for women: "He married my mom and became the father of three independent, strong young women," Sterling says.
In a release accompanying the ad, Hogan issued a statement saying that when his daughter "saw the outright lies my opponent is saying about me, she wanted to set the record straight once and for all."
In a news conference last week and through much of this week, a predominant theme of the Hogan campaign has been that Brown is a liar.
Hannah Marr, a spokeswoman for the Hogan campaign, said the ad will run in both the Washington and Baltimore areas, as well as rural parts of the state. She said the Hogan campaign is buying a lot of air time for the ad but did not say how much it would spend.
JUstin Schall, Brown's campaign manager, said Hogan's ad comes as no surprise.
"The record is clear, Larry Hogan has a lengthy history of opposing a woman's right to choose, even in cases of rape or incest, and he supported a constitutional amendment that would limit women's access to birth control – those are the inconvenient facts for Larry," Schall said.