A week ago, Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke got our attention when he launched a very defensive commercial in response to a spot from Democrat Denise Juneau that accused him of wanting to sell off Montana’s public lands. Juneau has raised a credible amount of money, but Zinke has the luxury of running for re-election in a conservative state that Donald Trump is likely to carry.
However, Zinke seems to be taking Juneau quite seriously, since he’s going negative again in another new ad. The commercial starts with the narrator accusing Juneau of supporting Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s agenda, including Obamacare. Zinke’s voice is then heard interjecting, “Obamacare? With a new 50 percent rate increase in Montana?” Zinke goes on to denounce the Affordable Care Act before the narrator comes back and declares, “Vote Juneau to expand Obamacare. Or Zinke, to fix healthcare.” A few weeks ago, Zinke ran a similar ad arguing that Juneau and Clinton want to kill coal jobs.
It’s tough to know what’s going on, especially since no one has released any polls of this race. No major outside groups from either party appear to have reserved any ad time here, which indicates that both national parties think Zinke is in a good position. However, Zinke’s decision to go negative, and to go on the defensive over Juneau’s land ad, suggests that things are a bit more competitive than they seem. Zinke is a potential challenger for Sen. Jon Tester in 2018, so it’s very possible he’s just trying to run up the score in his re-election campaign now to help scare off any potential primary rivals. Still, Zinke’s actions make this race worth watching.
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