WASHINGTON — The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has joined its Republican adversaries on the 8th District airwaves.
The DCCC released its first ad against Republican U.S. Rep Chip Cravaack on Saturday. The group says it’s a more than $400,000 ad buy in the Twin Cities market, and it comes a day after the National Republican Congressional Committee began running ads against Cravaack’s opponent, Democratic former U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan.
The ad hits Cravaack for "voting to cut Pell Grants for 23,000 Minnesota college students" as well as $115 billion in education funding. Both measures were included in House GOP budget resolutions introduced by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, now the Republican vice presidential candidate, and had overwhelming GOP support.
The ad says Cravaack is out of step with Minnesota's "tradition of valuing education."
The Cravaack-Nolan showdown is expected to be the most competitive race in Minnesota this fall, and the national campaigning arms of both parties have been gearing up for an airwaves war. The NRCC’s ad (which was worth more than $460,000, according to Federal Election Commission filings) is part of a $1.2 million ad reservation in the Twin Cities. This spring, the DCCC reportedly reserved $3 million in Minneapolis (ad resverations are not binding).
Here’s the ad:
Devin Henry can be reached at dhenry@minnpost.com. Follow him on Twitter: @dhenry