Officials with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) on Tuesday released a volatile TV ad that claims Republican candidate for Congress Sandy Smith “physically abused her daughter” a decade ago.

The abuse included “an attack so serious that her daughter was taken to the emergency room,” according to a DCCC press release on Tuesday morning.

The DCCC release states that the TV ad, “Family”— which has also been made public on social media sites —“details the disturbing allegations of domestic violence by Sandy Smith towards her daughter, using her daughter’s own words from a domestic violence protective order she filed.”

Smith is running for a seat in the state’s 1st Congressional District that’s also known as the Black Belt owing to the region’s rich fertile soil on land that historically was owned by wealthy whites and worked by impoverished Black residents.

Smith lost in 2020 to longtime incumbent G.K. Butterfield, who won with nearly 55 percent of the vote and announced late last year that he would not seek reelection.  

The far-right candidate describes herself as a “Proud USMC [U.S. Marine Corps] Mom & Business Owner,” who is “#ProTrump, #ProVets, #ProWall, #Pro2nd, #ProLife, #MAGA,” according to her Twitter account.

Smith describes herself as an America First Christian Conservative, on the conservative social media platform GETTR.

The INDY reached out to Smith for comment via emails, but did not get an immediate response. But Smith addressed the ad on her website where she says “the Pelosi-run DCCC are so desperate to peddle fake misinformation of abuse from over a decade ago knowing it is totally false just so they can try and hurt me and my family.”

“When hearing of these false allegations, my daughter responded, ‘I love my mom and she is my best friend and the one person in this world I can always count on to have my back and protect me,’” the website states. “‘My mom is NOT a domestic abuser, she is a survivor and a protector.  She moved our family to get away and protect us from my ex-stepfather who was physically abusive.  It is only now as an adult I realize everything she did to protect me and I thank God every day that she didn’t give up on me.’” 

The stark 30-second ad uses a dull gray and charcoal black background to highlight a domestic violence complaint and motion for a protective order that was reportedly filed against Smith by her daughter in Lenoir County Superior Court on July 11, 2012.

“Smith’s daughter said her mother ‘pushed and shoved me, she slapped me, pulled my hair, pulled me to the ground,’ and ‘punched me in the face with a closed fist,’” according to the DCCC’s recounting of the alleged abuse in the complaint.

“Smith’s daughter claimed in a complaint to the court that Smith abused her so severely that she was taken to the emergency room,” DCCC officials state in the release.

The handwritten document reportedly written by Smith’s daughter, states that she was “in a lot of pain” and “afraid to go home.”

The ad also shows what is reportedly Smith’s daughter’s handwritten statements culled from court documents.

“My mom “pushed and shoved me…”

“Slapped me…”

“She “punched me in the face…” 

DCCC officials stated that the ad initially aired in the state’s 1st Congressional District, before airing on Tuesday in Raleigh and Greenville. The ad is part of the DCCC’s investments in “key battleground districts,” according to the release.

“Read it for yourself at SandySmithFacts.org,” the Tuesday press release concluded.  

“She’s too dangerous for North Carolina.”

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Follow Durham Staff Writer Thomasi McDonald on Twitter or send an email to tmcdonald@indyweek.com.