Leading Off:
• IL-Gov: If the gubernatorial race in Illinois isn't the nation's nastiest campaign, it's at least very close. Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn features a news clip in which a reporter describes how Republican Bruce Rauner threatened an executive, declaring, "I will bury her .... I will bankrupt her with legal fees. I don't know if she has a family or not but if she does, she better think twice about this." Quinn's campaign has been working hard for months to portray Rauner as a heartless rich guy.
Rauner's own spot is the latest to invoke the specter of a former governor-turned-convict, Rod Blagojevich. The ad features clips of Quinn talking about how ethical his administration is, interrupted by clips of newscasters talking about scandals surrounding Quinn. The narrator concludes, "First Blagojevich, now Quinn. Can we afford four more years?" And of course, the ads are only going to get more intense in the next three weeks.
2:19 PM PT: TX-Gov: Speaking of nasty ads, one more came in, and it's quite a doozy. Democrat Wendy Davis is accusing Republican Greg Abbott of basically being a heartless monster, spending his legal career working against victims even after he sued for damages from his own paralyzing injuries. The spot may have worked a bit better if Davis hadn't brought Abbott's own injury into this. Suffice to say, it's probably not the type of spot Davis would run if she felt good about this race.
Head below the fold for a roundup of ads from races across the country.
Senate:
• AK-Sen The NRSC hits Democratic Sen. Mark Begich with another $119,000.
• CO-Sen: The DSCC once again goes after Republican Cory Gardner for sponsoring a personhood bill while claiming to be against it.
• IA-Sen: I have no idea if the name "B-PAC" is supposed to mean anything or if other PACs already took all the "Americans for Freedom's Liberty" type of names. In any case, they're spending $240,000 against Democrat Bruce Braley.
• KS-Sen: Ending Spending recently committed $1 million to help Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, and they're out with their first ad. Like basically every GOP-ad in this contest, they accuse independent Greg Orman of being "a liberal masquerading as an independent." Orman's allies at the Committee to Elect an Independent Senate recently aired this spot and it's running for a lot more than the original $17,000 sum: The size of the buy is $389,000.
• MI-Sen: At least one conservative group isn't giving up on Terri Lynn Land. Ending Spending has chipped in another $234,000 here.
• NC-Sen: The Republicans seem convinced that Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan's decision to skip a hearing on terrorism for a fundraiser is toxic for her. The NRSC is the latest conservative campaign to run a spot on this, accusing Hagan of lying about where she was. Crossroads GPS's ad has a similar ad, featuring a clip of Hagan admitting she missed a hearing on ISIS to raise money. For her part, Hagan hits Republican Thom Tillis over women's health and equal pay.
• NH-Sen: Ending Spending throws $127,000 at Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, while Independent Leadership for New Hampshire is also up with $362,000 against the senator.
• SD-Sen: With independent former Sen. Larry Pressler taking critical votes away from Democrat Rick Weiland, it's no surprise that Weiland's allies are working to deflate Pressler before it's too late. Every Voice Action recently announced that they were pulling a spot aimed at Republican Mike Rounds and replacing it with an anti-Pressler ad and it's now available. The commercial accuses Pressler of cutting Medicare and Social Security while he was in the Senate, while skipping a vote to restore the Social Security cuts to collect speaking fees in Las Vegas.
Weiland himself goes positive, characterizing himself as someone who will stand up for South Dakota against big money. Pressler also goes on the air, portraying himself as someone who won't be bought. Pressler's ad has a clip of the late Walter Cronkite quoting Pressler after the senator publicly turned down an illegal campaign contribution.
• NRA: Various pro-GOP expenditures.
• NRSC: Various pro-GOP expenditures.
• Senate Majority PAC: Various pro-Democratic expenditures.
Gubernatorial:
• AR-Gov: Republican Asa Hutchinson pledges to stand up for Arkansas against Obama.
• FL-Gov: Democrat Charlie Crist features his running mate Annette Taddeo talking about how Crist will help women and families.
• KS-Gov: The NEA hits Republican Gov. Brownback, arguing that his tax cuts have devastated schools.
• MA-Gov: Republican Charlie Baker promotes himself as someone who can make Massachusetts a leader in jobs.
• WI-Gov: NARAL pushes back on Republican Gov. Scott Walker's attempts to defend himself on abortion. The ad accuses Walker of wanting to ban all abortion and signing a law that forced some women to undergo transvaginal ultrasounds.
House:
• AR-02: Democrat Patrick Henry Hays promotes himself as someone who can combat wasteful Washington spending.
• CA-36: Democratic Rep. Raul Ruiz accuses Republican Brian Nestande of trying to raise Medicare costs.
• CT-05: House Majority PAC features clips of Republican Mark Greenberg calling Social Security a failure and calling for increasing the retirement age to 70.
• FL-02: CULAC The PAC (yes, that's their real name), a group run by the National Credit Union Association, chips in $176,000 to help Republican Rep. Steve Southerland.
• FL-26: The GOP has been working hard to portray Democratic Rep. Joe Garcia as corrupt and American Unity PAC joins in with their new spot.
• GA-12: Center Forward hits Republican Rick Allen for wanting to eliminate federal college loans. Democratic Rep. John Barrow goes positive, talking about his work on energy.
• IL-12: House Majority PAC mostly goes positive for Democratic Rep. Bill Enyart, bit of course they have a clip of Republican Mike Bost throwing a temper tantrum.
• MI-07: Democrat Pam Byrnes praising her.
• NE-02: Democrat Brad Ashford.
• NJ-03: While he's running in a swingy district, the very wealthy Republican Tom MacArthur shouldn't need outside groups to come to his aid. However, only days after the American Action Network committed $1.1 million, Crossroads GPS is spending $430,000. This district is split between the very expensive New York and Philadelphia media markets and the GOP can't be happy that they need to commit money here.
• TX-23: The Congressional Leadership Fund spends $483,000 against Democratic Rep. Pete Gallego.
• WV-02: Republican Alex Mooney continues to portray Nick Casey as an Obama lackey, cramming the word "Obama" in five times in only 30-seconds in case anyone missed the point of the ad.
• House Majority PAC: Various pro-Democratic expenditures.