Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce is attacking opponent Heather Wilson today for missing a House session in which she could have cast the deciding vote in favor of stripping the tax-exempt status of so-called sanctuary cities.
On the bill in question, the Taxpayer Assistance and Simplification Act, the House voted Tuesday evening on a motion that would have added language stripping the tax-exempt status of cities whose policies prevent local police from inquiring about immigration status or enforcing federal immigration law in other ways.
The vote on the motion was a 210-210 tie, so under House rules it died. One more vote in favor of the motion would have led to House approval of the motion and the bill, which would have also needed Senate approval to be enacted.
Pearce, who voted in favor of the motion, released a letter he sent to Animas rancher Kelly Peterson on Tuesday evening decrying
“It is a shame that she is not present here in Congress to do the nation’s business. I am very disappointed, to say the least,” Pearce wrote in the letter. “It is tragic that the people’s will lost by one vote since Heather Wilson put her political ambitions above her responsibility as a congresswoman.”
This is the latest in what has been a contentious campaign between the two Republican Senate candidates.