Leading Off:
• CO-Gov: The DGA has two spots (here and here). The first attacks Republican Bob Beauprez over secession, which is not something you see every day. The narrator reads a Beauprez quote, where the candidate supports several conservative counties quest to form their own state.
Last year five counties voted to secede from Colorado, while six voted against it. The whole thing was symbolic since there was no way Congress and the Colorado Legislature would ever actually approve the creation of a new state as the Constitution requires. Since Beauprez announced his campaign for governor of the still-united state of Colorado he's been a lot less vocal about the idea, but the pro-secession quote in the ad is completely real.
The second Democratic spot goes after Beauprez in Spanish, while praising Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper.
Head below the fold for a roundup of campaign ads from races across the country.
Senate:
• AK-Sen: The League of Conservation Voters spends another $150,000 for the Democrats.
• AR-Sen: Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor runs what's basically a greatest hits ad against Republican rival Tom Cotton. The narrator sums up most of the Democratic attacks on Cotton in 30 seconds; she hits Cotton's votes against the Violence Against Women Act, the Farm Bill, and funding for a children's hospital, as well as his support for tax cuts to billionaires. On the GOP side, Arkansas Horizon spends another $500,000.
• CO-Sen: On the Democratic side, Sen. Mark Udall has two spots (here and here). The first promotes Udall's work on renewable energy, while the second is a Spanish spot focused on voting by mail. The League of Conservation Voters also spends $218,000. For the GOP, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has a negative Spanish ad.
• GA-Sen: Republican David Perdue stars his mother praising him as a hard worker. Ending Spending rolls out Rep. Jack Kingston, who narrowly lost to Perdue in the GOP runoff. Kingston throws a few jabs at Democrat Michelle Nunn but mostly praises Perdue. The ad is running for $1.3 million.
• IA-Sen: The Susan B. Anthony List spends $231,000 for the GOP. For Team Blue, NextGen Climate goes after Republican Joni Ernst on her ties to outsourcers and big oil.
• KS-Sen: Kansans Support Problem Solvers PAC drops $122,000 for independent Greg Orman.
• KY-Sen: Crossroads GPS features an animated Obama voting for Democrat Alison Grimes. On the Democratic side, Senate Majority PAC is back on the air. They accuse Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of gambling other people's retirement savings while using his power to protect his own.
• NC-Sen: The DSCC hits Republican Thom Tillis in two spots (here and here). Both accuse Tillis of being part of a corrupt scheme to increase tolls in order to help his wealthy donors.
• NH-Sen: Ending Spending continues to tie Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen to Obama.
• SD-Sen: MoveOn.org spends $113,000 for the Democrats.
• Chamber: Pro-GOP expenditures from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Interestingly, we find out that they spent a hefty $700,000 on the "Chicken Dance" ad in the Iowa Senate race, making it one of the rare commercials that is both very stupid and very expensive.
• NextGen Climate: Pro-Democratic expenditures.
• NRA: Pro-GOP expenditures.
• Senate Majority PAC: Pro-Democratic expenditures.
Gubernatorial:
• AR-Gov: Democrat Mike Ross promotes his middle class agenda, while portraying Republican Asa Hutchinson as an ally of the rich.
• CT-Gov: Michael Bloomberg's PAC Independence USA spends $1.7 million in support of Democratic Gov. Dan Malloy. On the other side, Republican Tom Foley argues Malloy has failed as governor and change is needed.
• FL-Gov: The Florida Republican Party features Sen. Marco Rubio speaking in Spanish at a rally for Republican Gov. Rick Scott. For Team Blue, NextGen Climate has two spots (here and here). They praise Democrat Charlie Crist for standing up to greedy utility companies while accusing Scott of letting them gouge Floridians.
• GA-Gov: Republican Gov. Nathan Deal once again features former conservative Democratic Gov. and Sen. Zell Miller praising him on the Hope Scholarship.
• IL-Gov: Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn shows a clip of a rally with Michelle Obama.
• KS-Gov: Progressive Kick and the National Nurses Union hits Republican Gov. Sam Brownback over his brutal budget cuts. Democrat Paul Davis also promotes himself as a sensible alternative to Brownback.
• MD-Gov: Republican Larry Hogan stars his running mate former U.S. Department of Education Assistant Secretary Boyd Rutherford, who decries high taxes.
• WI-Gov: The RGA has invested another $1 million toward helping Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
House:
• AR-02: Republican French Hill's positive spot starts Richard Mays, who was appointed to the Arkansas Supreme Court by then-Gov. Bill Clinton.
• AZ-02: Democratic Rep. Ron Barber argues that Republican Martha McSally is in the pocket of the Koch brothers. The DCCC also has two ads (here and here) going after McSally on Medicare and college tuition.
• HI-01: The American Action Network hits Democrat Mark Takai on taxes. The size of the buy is $300,000.
• IA-01: Until recently both parties had ignored this open Democratic seat, but not any more. The DCCC goes after Republican Ron Blum on Social Security and Medicare, while the American Action Network argues that Democrat Pat Murphy has raised taxes and spent irresponsibly; the size of the buy is $500,000.
• IA-02: This is another long ignored seat that Democrats are spending to defend late in the game. The DCCC ties Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks to outsourcers.
• IA-03: Americans for Responsible Solutions continues to portray Republican David Young as an out-of-touch Washington insider.
• IL-10: Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider has two spots (here and here). The first features Schneider telling the audience he'll hold the tea party accountable, while the second goes after Republican Bob Dold on Medicare and Social Security. Dold fires back, accusing Schneider of being the one who voted to cut Social Security. To our disappointment, not one of these ads refers to Dold by his correct title, "Bob Dold!" Only a week left guys.
• IL-12: Democratic Rep. Bill Enyart contrasts himself with Republican Mike Bost on the minimum wage and equal pay. Bost fires back, tying Enyart to Obama.
• MA-06: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce
promotes Republican Richard Tisei as a reformer. The Congressional Leadership Fund also accuses Democrat Seth Moulton of getting rich off of corrupt companies; the size of the buy is $500,000.
• MN-07: Democratic Rep. Colin Peterson emphasizes his Independence from Obama and Pelosi.
• MN-08: House Majority PAC spends $88,000 tying Republican Stewart Mills to the Koch brothers and their agenda.
• NY-01: The American Action Network accuses Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop of being corrupt. The ad is part of their $1.5 million ad campaign.
• NY-11: Democrat Domenic Recchia reminds voters that Republican Rep. Michael Grimm is under indictment, while portraying himself as someone who will stand up for the district.
• NY-18: The American Action Network portrays Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney as someone who takes advantage of the perks of power.
• NY-24: The NRCC continues to go after Democratic Rep. Dan Maffei as a Washington insider.
• OR-04: Ending Spending is engaging in some wasteful spending of their own, dropping $379,000 in support of Republican Art Robinson's campaign against Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio. On paper this is only a light blue district, backing Obama 52-45. DeFazio has bested Robinson twice though, winning 54-44 in 2010 and 59-39 two years later. We'll see if anyone else makes any last-minute buys here, but it's hard to believe the third time will be a charm for Robinson.
• TX-23: House Majority PAC spends $27,000 going after Republican Will Hurd on Social Security and the retirement age. For the GOP, the Congressional Leadership Fund calls Democratic Rep. Pete Gallego an Obama loyalist. The ad is part of their $1.6 million ad campaign.
• WV-03: Honest West Virginians spends $150,000 for Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall.