If you watch until the end of this campaign ad, you’ll see a candidate giving birth.
Katie Darling, a Democrat and business executive challenging House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), is out with a spot that documents the arrival of “someone else who’s going to be joining us” on the family farm.
Darling narrates the ad, in which she relays her concerns about climate change, underperforming public schools and her state’s abortion ban. “Louisiana deserves better than the path we’re on,” Darling says, conveying that’s something she wants for her newborn son.
In a tweet accompanying her ad, Darling writes: “Louisiana ranks 50th in crime, 48th in education, and 46th in health care. I’m running for Congress to stop this race to the bottom because our children deserve better.”
The first images in the ad show a pregnant Darling on her family farm in St. Tammany parish with her husband, John, and daughter, Remy, as well as the farm’s chickens. In a voiceover, Darling talks about Louisiana’s abortion ban, which prohibits nearly all abortions and is one of the strictest in the nation.
“We should be putting pregnant women at ease. Not putting our lives at risk,” Darling says.
In several images, the candidate is seen in labor at a hospital; the final image is of Darling after delivering a son. On her campaign website, Darling says Ollie was born in September.
Darling is considered a long-shot candidate in the strongly Republican seat.
