Leading Off:
• NE-Gov: Until now, the Nebraska gubernatorial race hadn't been getting much attention since Republican Pete Ricketts narrowly won his primary back in May. Democratic nominee Chuck Hassebrook is a good candidate but he hasn't been given much of a chance in this very red state. There has been very little polling here and while a June PPP poll for Hassebrook showed him only down four, national groups have largely ignored the race.
Until now that is. The RGA just released a spot tying Hassebrook to Obamacare as closely as they can, with some other shots at Obama thrown in. It's possible the group just wants to nuke Hassebrook now, rather than taking the chance he'll become a threat later. Team Blue has had some luck in recent U.S. Senate contests here, but they haven't won the governorship since Ben Nelson's landslide re-election in 1994 of all years. It's worth watching to see if Democratic groups think they have a chance and start spending here.
Senate:
• AK-Sen: VoteVets goes after Republican Dan Sullivan: The spot features a Navy veteran-turned-fisherman arguing that Pebble Mine, which Sullivan supports, would hurt state fishermen. The ad is for a hefty $675,000. We also have a total of $658,000 spent on the Democratic side from Patriot Majority, the League of Conservation Voters, and Alaska Salmon PAC.
• AR-Sen: The DSCC hits Republican Rep. Tom Cotton on Social Security. Cotton emphasizes his military record in a positive spot.
• IA-Sen: NextGen Climate ties Republican Joni Ernst to big oil, at the expense of state jobs. It's worth mentioning that while the group's first spot here a few months ago was really weird, all their stuff after that has been good. MoveOn also ties Ernst to rich interests who want to jeopardize Social Security.
• LA-Sen: Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu features an oil rig worker, who praises her for expanding drilling. He ends by noting she's chair of the Energy Committee and that "we'd be crazy to lose her."
• MN-Sen: Democratic Sen. Al Franken lays out his bipartisan credentials and accomplishments.
• NC-Sen: Republican Thom Tillis pushes back on Democratic charges that he's cut education funding, before tying Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan to Obama.
• NRSC: We have size of the buys for various new expenditures from the NRSC.
Gubernatorial:
• AZ-Gov: Republican Doug Ducey is out with his first spot of the general, in which he boringly lays out his agenda.
• IL-Gov: Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn continues to attack Republican foe Bruce Rauner as an out-of-touch rich guy.
• KS-Gov: A new group called "Kansas Values" hits Republican Gov. Sam Brownback over the condition of the state economy.
• ME-Gov: Democratic Rep. Mike Michaud emphasizes a bill he's pushing to require military shoes be made in America.
• MI-Gov: The RGA ties Democrat Mark Schauer to former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who left office very unpopular.
• RI-Gov: Providence Mayor Angel Taveras once again ties Democratic primary rival Treasurer Gina Raimondo to Wall Street, ahead of the Sept. 9 primary.
• WI-Gov: Greater Wisconsin hits Republican Gov. Scott Walker for cutting school funding to help his rich allies.
House:
• CA-52: Democratic Rep. Scott Peters ties Republican foe Carl DeMaio to the tea party.
• FL-18: Center Forward spends $200,000 praising Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy.
• IL-13: Republican Rep. Rodney Davis really wants you to know he coaches a local school football team and hates Washington.
• MA-06: Democratic Rep. John Tierney emphasizes his work in making college more affordable.
• MN-08: Democratic Rep. Rick Nolan has a positive spot where he calls for balancing the budget "the right way". He also becomes the latest candidate to fire a gun in a TV spot.
• NY-21: Republican Elise Stefanik calls for protecting Social Security and Medicare.