Leading Off:
• IA-04: Democrat Jim Mowrer is one of the few challengers to hold more cash on hand than the person he's trying to unseat. Mowrer, who is taking on unhinged Republican Rep. Steve King, is taking advantage of his financial edge to air his third spot of the cycle. Mowrer describes how he lost his father at a young age, and the family only survived because of Social Security. Mowrer then declares he'll defend Social Security.
While Mowrer has the privilege of running against one of the nuttiest members of Congress, his spots have been all positive so far. Mowrer has heavily played up his local roots and his military service in his first and second spots. So far, King and his allies have not been on the air at all. Romney won this seat 53-45, and King turned back a well-funded challenge last cycle by a similar margin. King may feel he has nothing to worry about: We'll see if Mowrer's spots make him feel any differently.
Senate:
• AK-Sen: The International Association of Firefighters shells out $164,000 for an as-of-yet unseen ad against Republican Dan Sullivan.
• AR-Sen: Americans for Prosperity goes negative on Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor once again.
• CO-Sen: Next Gen Climate hits Republican Rep. Cory Gardner with $728,000.
• GA-Sen: We recently highlighted an EMILY's List buy for $1 million, and now we have the ad. The narrator accuses Republican David Perdue's company of discriminating against women while he ran it. Meanwhile, the NRSC shells out another $478,000 against Democrat Michelle Nunn (here and here).
• KY-Sen: What's a few hundred thousand more between friends? The Kentucky Opportunity Coalition hits Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes with another $177,000 (here and here).
• LA-Sen: The DSCC spends another $341,000 against Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy, likely in support of this ad.
• MI-Sen: The League of Conservation Voters hits Republican Terri Lynn Land for her ties to the Koch Brothers, citing the environmental damage the Kochs have done to the state.
• NH-Sen: We have a size of the buy for a recent Next Gen Climate attack ad on Republican Scott Brown: $1,032,000.
Gubernatorial:
• AZ-Gov: With the Aug. 26 Republican primary almost here, former Mesa Mayor Scott Smith has two last minute positive ads (here and here). We also have a very rare sighting: An ad for Secretary of State Ken Bennett. Bennett has long been an afterthought in this contest, with his opponents and their allies not even bothering to attack him. Bennett's own ad is pretty dull, with him just talking to the camera.
• FL-Gov: Next Gen Climate ties Republican Gov. Rick Scott to big polluters. In what's become a big theme in anti-Scott ads, the spot throws in a clip of Scott evading questions at a hearing over his then-company's alleged Medicare fraud.
• IL-Gov: DGA goes right after Republican Bruce Rauner's business career, leading with recent revelations about Rauner's accounts in the Cayman Islands.
• MD-Gov: Democrat Anthony Brown goes positive.
House:
• CA-26: Freshman Democratic Rep. Julia Brownley is out with her first spot, where she declares she'll stand up for the rights of women and families.
• GA-12: In the NRCC's spot, a woman with a monkey on her shoulder decries Democratic Rep. John Barrow for voting for wasteful spending. I didn't make that sentence up.
• IL-10: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hits Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider for voting with Democratic party leaders, while portraying former Republican Rep. Bod Dold as an Independence voice.
• IL-17: Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos' first spot features a veteran decrying how too many American flags at military funerals were actually made in China. The man praises Bustos for introducing a bill to require the government to only buy American-made flags.
• NJ-03: Republican Tom MacArthur accuses Democrat Aimee Belgard of lying about his ethics.
Weirdly, the narrator declares, "The [Belgard] ad falsely states MacArthur cheated disaster victims." As a viewer (albeit one not inclined to like Tom MacArtur to begin with), the only part of the ad is the "MacArthur cheated disaster victims" line. For a look at why it's usually a really bad idea to repeat your opponent's accusation against you even when refuting it, check out this great article by Brad Phillips of Mr. Media Training.
• NH-01: We have the size of the buy for a recent American Unity PAC spot for Dan Innis in the Republican primary: $329,000 (here and here).