The Republican Accountability Project, an anti-Trump group, launched a $1 million campaign thanking 10 House Republicans and seven GOP senators who either voted to impeach Trump or supported the former president's conviction. 

Katko, R-Camillus, was among the 10 House GOP members who voted to impeach Trump for inciting an insurrection. Trump was impeached for his actions prior to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6. 

The billboards thanking Katko can be seen along Interstate 690 near Syracuse. The TV ads are airing on Fox News this week during "Fox & Friends" and "Hannity." 

Olivia Troye, a director of the Republican Accountability Project who was an aide to former Vice President Mike Pence until last year, told The Citizen that the group wanted to thank "principled Republicans like Katko for doing the right thing." 

"These are the people who chose the country over an individual," Troye said. "They chose the country over Trump." 

Katko was the first House Republican to publicly announce his support for impeachment. As a former federal prosecutor, he considered Trump's conduct on Jan. 6 and in the months leading up to that day. After the election, Trump made numerous unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in an attempt to overturn the election result. 

While Trump's campaign filed lawsuits in key battleground states, Katko said he didn't see evidence of fraud. But the now-former president continued to spread false information about the election. 

When a joint session of Congress gathered on Jan. 6 to certify the Electoral College results, Trump made a last-ditch attempt to overturn the election. He spoke at a rally and claimed that he won by a landslide. After the event, a pro-Trump mob marched to the Capitol. They overpowered Capitol Police officers and forced their way into the building. Pence and congressional leaders had to be evacuated. 

"He still engaged in that incredibly incendiary language, then told them to go up to (the Capitol) as their last stand, clearly with the intent to try and get them to stop the Electoral College process," Katko told The Citizen last month. "There are some concerns about his lack of action as the House was being invaded and his delay in reacting. All those things factored into it for me and it led me to the inescapable conclusion, based on the charge, that I had to do what I had to do." 

Katko has support from some Republican leaders and other endorsers. But he's also faced a backlash from Trump supporters and the Conservative Party, a minor party in New York that has endorsed him in each of four congressional elections. 

The 2022 elections are more than a year away, so it's unclear whether Katko will face a primary challenge. If he does, Troye said the Republican Accountability Project will assist his reelection campaign. 

"We'll be there in the primaries to support the people who really took a stand," Troye added. "That's certainly our goal and looking at the longer-term picture of the project, we'll be there in 2022 and 2024 as needed when these movements come to attack them again."