Leading Off:
• SD-Sen: There hasn't been too much outside spending in this contest, but it looks like one group is going in big. Lawrence Lessig's anti-big money group Mayday PAC is spending $1 million to help Democrat Rick Weiland, a huge sum in this relatively inexpensive state. Mayday's spot promotes Weiland as someone who will stand up for the middle class and not the rich. Mayday is not exactly renowned for its ... well, basic competence, but Weiland probably isn't complaining about getting some much needed air support.
Follow below the fold for more.
Senate:
• AK-Sen: The NRSC continues to portray Democratic Sen. Mark Begich as a wasteful spender. Republican rival Dan Sullivan also hits Begich on energy.
• CO-Sen: The NRSC continues to accuse Democratic Sen. Mark Udall of running a single-issue campaign, while not caring about Colorado voters. Republican rival Cory Gardner again argues that Udall ignored the threat of terrorism. On the Democratic side, the SEIU goes after Gardner in a Spanish ad.
• GA-Sen: That didn't take long at all. A few days ago, a 2005 deposition emerged where Republican David Perdue declared he had spent most of his career outsourcing. Sure enough, Democrat Michelle Nunn has the first of what will almost certainly be many ads hitting Deal over this revelation.
For his part, Perdue's narrator accuses Nunn of being desperate before tying her to Obama. Perdue then appears and talks about creating jobs.
• IA-Sen: Republican Joni Ernst has a pretty generic positive ad, while the NRA has the Iowa version of one of their cookie-cutter ads.
• KY-Sen: The DSCC argues that Republican Mitch McConnell has used his time in Washington to get rich as conditions in the state got worse.
• LA-Sen: The NRA adapts another one of its ads to go after Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu.
• NC-Sen: The Susan B. Anthony List recently started spending on behalf of Republican Thom Tillis, and EMILY's List is hoping they can turn the group into a liability for Tillis. In their new spot, EMILY portrays their rival as a crazy anti-women group. The ad is reportedly running on cable for five figures. Also on the Democratic side, the NEA continues to hit Tillis on education cuts.
• NH-Sen: Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen accuses Republican Scott Brown of wanting to interfere with women's personal choices, while not-so-subtly reminding the viewer that Brown carpetbagged to the state from Massachusetts.
• OR-Sen: Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley looks like he's all set for re-election, but he still has a cute ad. It's a positive spot featuring his family arguing that Merkley never forgot his middle class roots. There's also a funny visual at the beginning of Merkley in a Superman pose as the garage door opens.
• Crossroads: The deep-pocketed GOP group Crossroads GPS has been busy lately, and they're rolling out new spots in several Senate contests. In Arkansas, they tie Sen. Mark Pryor to Obama. In Iowa, they tie Bruce Braley to Obama. In Kentucky (here and here) they tie Alison Grimes to Obama. In Louisiana, they tie Sen. Mary Landrieu to Obama...care!!! Ha, bet you didn't see that coming!
We also have a few size of the buys. In a recent Colorado spot, they spent $1,512,000 while in Louisiana they shelled out $486,000.
Gubernatorial:
• AR-Gov: The DGA-allied Jobs and Opportunity has two ads (here and here) hitting Republican Asa Hutchinson as hostile to small businesses and farmers.
• AZ-Gov: The RGA calls Democrat Fred DuVal a liberal lobbyist, throwing a bunch of attacks at him on Obamacare, college tuition, and drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants. DuVal's own spot features him hiking with his family as he talks about his bipartisan record.
• CT-Gov: The DGA-backed Connecticut Forward argues that Republican Tom Foley's policies will hurt families.
• GA-Gov: Republican Gov. Nathan Deal has mostly been running positive commercials focusing on the state economy and left the negative spots to the RGA, but no more. Deal accuses Democrat Jason Carter of lying about the governor's economic record, while wanting to raise taxes himself.
Speaking of the RGA, they're back on the air. They argue that Carter voted against education funding in the state Senate, and is lying about his calls to improve education.
• HI-Gov: Democrat David Ige's spot stars former Sen. Dan Akaka, who praises his goals.
• ID-Gov: Wealthy Democratic candidate A.J. Balukoff hits Republican Gov. Butch Otter on education. The ad features a Republican superintendent describing Otter's brutal cuts and declaring he'll vote for a Democrat for the first time.
• IL-Gov: Republican Bruce Rauner has another very hard-hitting spot. It accuses Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn's administration of letting children to die whom it was supposed to be caring for.
• ME-Gov: The RGA once again accuses Democrat Mike Michaud of helping undocumented immigrants at the expense of Maine's middle class.
• MI-Gov: Democrat Mark Schauer appears in his new ad, where he calls for undoing the policies championed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder that only help the rich.
• OR-Gov: Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber.
• RI-Gov: Democrat Gina Raimondo defends from Republican Allan Fung's attempts to tie her to 38 Studios, a video game company that took loans from the state right before going bankrupt. Raimondo argues that Fung's plan for what to do next will only cause problems for the state.
• WI-Gov: The NRA's ad features a violent crime survivor. She praises Republican Gov. Scott Walker for making it easier for women to defend themselves.
House:
• AR-02: Democrat Patrick Henry Hays has managed to put this open 55-43 Romney seat on the map, and the GOP has responded accordingly. American Crossroads is spending $453,000 on a spot portraying Hays as an Obama drone. Hays himself goes negative, continuing to portray Republican French Hill as a corrupt banker.
• AR-04: Republican Bruce Westerman goes biographical.
• CA-21: Democrat Amanda Renteria emphasizes her endorsement from the Fresno Bee over Republican Rep. David Valadao.
• CA-52: Republican Carl DeMaio is probably the first major Republican candidate for any office to utter the words, "As a proud gay American." DeMaio defends himself from Democratic attempts to portray him as a tea partier.
• CT-04: Republican Dan Debicella ties Democratic Rep. Jim Himes to Gov. Dan Malloy.
• CT-05: Democratic Rep. Elizabeth Esty continues to go after Republican Mark Greenberg on Social Security.
• FL-02: The NRCC's has two new ads (here and here). The first continues to tie Democrat Gwen Graham to the national party, while the second has a bipartisan pair of mayors declaring their support for Republican Rep. Steve Southerland. National party groups have run very few positive ads this year and it is a bit interesting that the NRCC is rolling out one here: It may be a sign that Southerland's favorables aren't as high as they want them to be. Southerland himself talks jobs.
• FL-18: Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy has another in his long series of positive ads. He once again touts how independent and bipartisan he is.
• GA-12: Democratic Rep. John Barrow highlights his record helping veterans.
• IL-11: Republican Darlene Senger's campaign hasn't exactly been a fundraising standout, but she's up with a spot anyhow. She accuses Democratic Rep. Bill Foster of being a wasteful spender, while calling for lower taxes and spending cuts.
• IL-12: The New Prosperity Foundation spends $102,000 against Democratic Rep. Bill Enyart.
• IL-17: Democrat Cheri Bustos.
• ME-02: EMILY's List portrays Republican Bruce Poliquin as a heartless Wall Street insider.
• MN-02: Republican Rep. John Kline.
• MT-AL: This is different. The narrator in Democrat John Lewis' new spot sings a version of "This Land is Your Land" attacking Republican Ryan Zinke on public access to land. Kind of cute, but Woody Guthrie does it better.
• NY-18: The DCCC paints Republican Nan Hayworth as a tea party radical. The spot twice uses a clip of Hayworth saying, "I am proud to be a radical," to make its case. I think the correct term is "reactionary" not "radical," but it's not like the DCCC is going to get Hayworth to do a reshoot.
• OR-05: Democratic Rep. Kurt Schrader.
• TX-23: The Congressional Leadership Fund hits Democratic Rep. Pete Gallego over Obamacare.
• Chamber: Jeb Bush narrates a trio of Spanish-language spots for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in CO-Sen, AZ-02, and CA-21.
• Congressional Leadership Fund: Speaker John Boehner's super PAC is going after Democratic incumbents in three districts. They are spending $1 million against Brad Schneider in IL-10, $1.6 million against Carol Shea-Porter in NH-01, and $500,000 against Julia Brownley in CA-26.
• DCCC: Various Democratic expenditures (here and here).