Leading Off:
• KS-Sen: Republican Sen. Pat Roberts launches the first of what will be many ads tying independent Greg Orman to national Democrats. The narrator cites Orman's donations to Democrats, and his opposition to repealing Obamacare. The rest of the ad is the usual "Look how bad Obamacare is!!!" rhetoric.
Roberts' blitz comes as another poll shows him in real danger. On Tuesday, PPP showed Orman leading Roberts 41-34. Roberts' approval rating is underwater at 29-46, while Orman sports a 24-12 favorable rating. Roberts' path to victory almost certainly depends on him defining Orman as an Obama supporter, and that's just what this ad does. It's a good bet that national Republicans will help the senator, and we'll see if Orman can withstand the coming storm.
Follow below the fold for more.
Senate:
• AR-Sen: Crossroads GPS accuses Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor for wanting to raise the Social Security eligibility age for Arkansans while making it easier for undocumented immigrants to get Social Security benefits. On the Democratic side, Senate Majority PAC hits Republican Tom Cotton for opposing the Farm Bill.
• CO-Sen: NextGen Climate ties Republican Rep. Cory Gardner to polluters. On the GOP side, Crossroads GPS features four women around a kitchen counter accusing Democratic Sen. Mark Udall of treating them like single issue voters while hiding his own voting record. Just like in so many political spots, the actors in the Crossroads commercial don't remotely sound like real people.
• IA-Sen: The Sierra Club shows several clips of Republican Joni Ernst saying crazy things to argue that she's dangerous. The DSCC also goes after Ernst for wanting to eliminate the Department of Education.
On the GOP side, the NRSC alleges that Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley barely shows up in Congress. Crossroads GPS also hits Braley over his opposition to the Keystone Pipeline. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce goes positive and features Chuck Grassley, Ernst's would-be Republican Senate colleague, singing her praises.
• KY-Sen: Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell once again ties Democrat Alison Grimes to Obama. The spot uses clips from a recent Grimes ad where she fired a gun to argue that looking tough doesn't make her any less of an Obama supporter. The Kentucky Opportunity Coalition also goes after Grimes on immigration.
• MI-Sen: Ending Spending takes out another $472,000 against Democrat Gary Peters, while NextGen Climate spends $324,000 (here and here) against Republican Terri Lynn Land.
• MN-Sen: Republican Mike McFadden again hits Democratic Sen. Al Franken for ducking debates, with McFadden accusing the senator of trying to hide his voting record.
• NC-Sen: The NRSC argues that Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan has accomplished nothing in Washington.
• NH-Sen: Senate Majority PAC ties Republican Scott Brown to crooked companies.
Gubernatorial:
• AZ-Gov: Democrat Fred DuVal features former U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton, a Republican, praising his integrity.
• CO-Gov: Republican Bob Beauprez talks education.
• CT-Gov: The DGA-alligned Connecticut Forward accuses Republican Tom Foley of not caring about regular people.
• FL-Gov: Democrat Charlie Crist once again goes after Republican Gov. Rick Scott on education cuts. The state GOP hits Crist on the same thing.
• ME-Gov: Independent Eliot Cutler hits his opponents Republican Gov. Paul LePage and Democratic Rep. Mike Michaud for refusing to debate.
• NE-Gov: Democrat Chuck Hassebrook attacks Republican Pete Ricketts for trying to get out of paying taxes while trying to raise other people's.
• SC-Gov: Self-funding independent Tom Ervin is spending another $500,000 on a new TV ad blitz.
• WI-Gov: Democrat Mary Burke goes after Republican Scott Walker on condition of the state economy.
House:
• AZ-02: Democratic Rep. Ron Barber is the latest politician to depict Congress as a bunch of children. Also on the Democratic side, Americans for Responsible Solutions accuses Republican Martha McSally of opposing legislation that would make it harder for stalkers to get guns. The ad features a woman whose husband and daughter were murdered by a stalker.
• CA-21: Republican Rep. David Valadao has a generic positive ad.
• FL-18: Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy touts his endorsements from several local politicians, none of whom are Democrats.
• GA-12: The NRCC accusing Democratic Rep. John Barrow of voting for taxpayer funded abortions.
• IL-12: Democrats have tried to portray Republican Mike Bost as an angry crazy guy. Bost tries to reverse the attack, saying the direction of the country makes him angry. That doesn't stop Democratic Rep. Bill Enyart from airing another spot focusing on Bost's temper.
• MI-01: The NRCC evidently thinks that Republican Rep. Dan Benishek has a real race on his hands against Democrat Jerry Cannon. The group has just reserved $1 million here, a huge sum for such an inexpensive media market. The DCCC is already spending here.
• WV-03: Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall cites his work on securing benefits for minors who suffer from black lung, while arguing Republican Evan Jenkins wants to take those benefits away. On the GOP side, the NRCC ties Rahall to... guess who. I'll give you a hint: If you spell his name backwards you get Amabo Kcarab.
• DCCC: National Democrats are running new spots in IL-12, MN-08, NY-24, VA-10, and WV-03. All but VA-10 are Democratic held.
The most interesting is their NY-24 spot: This race had largely been ignored for most of the cycle, but the NRCC recently started airing spots against Democratic Rep. Dan Maffei. Now that the DCCC is going after Republican John Katko, it looks like we have a real race here.
• NRSC: Various expenditures.