Leading Off:
• IA-Sen: On the GOP side, Freedom Partners continues to hammer Democrat Bruce Braley on his “farmer from Iowa” gaffe. The spot features a husband and wife arguing that Braley hates all farmers.
The NRSC also goes after Braley, resurrecting a story from a few months ago in which Braley allegedly threatened to sue a neighbor after her chickens took a dump on his property. American Crossroads also throws down $1,082,000. But weirdest of all, a group called “Protect the Harvest” is spending $104,000. The group exists to fight “the radical animal rights movement” and it’s no surprise they’d make common cause with Republican Joni Ernst, who’s famously talked about castrating pigs.
On the other side, the DSCC has two new spots (here and here). The first features a woman on a sexual assault response team hitting Ernst for wanting to ban abortion, even for victims of rape and incest. The second ad briefly hits Ernst on education before praising Braley on his humble background and plans to make college more affordable. The national party committees haven’t run very many positive ads this cycle, and this may be a sign the DSCC thinks Braley’s image needs to improve for him to win.
Also for Team Blue, NARAL links Ernst to the Susan B. Anthony List, which it portrays as anti-women. Until the very end, it’s the same ad they ran in North Carolina. The American Hospitals Association spends $264,000, SEIU throws in $285,000, and AFSCME chips in $314,000.
Head below the fold for a roundup of ads from races from across the country.
