Cravaack foes launch new ad in 8th

September 13, 2012

House Majority PAC, a political fund aimed at putting more Democrats in the U.S. House, has launched a new ad targeting 8th Congressional District GOP Rep. Chip Cravaack.

The ad, which will air in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market for two weeks, makes the case that Cravaack went to Washington and abandoned his Minnesota values.

“Chip Cravaack voted to end the current Medicare system,” the ad says, and instead supported tax cuts for the wealthy.

The group intends to spend $250,000 on the spot.

It’s not the first time House Majority PAC has weighed in on the 8th contest between Cravaack and his DFL opponent Rick Nolan. In August, the group along with unions SEIU and AFSCME, and a second political fund called Friends of Democracy commissioned a poll that showed Nolan with a narrow lead over Cravaack.

House Majority PAC got a head start in the 8th last year when it aired an ad making similar claims about Cravaack’s record.

The Cravaack-Nolan is by far the most competitive in Minnesota this year, with the Rothenberg Political Report considering it a toss-up.

Update: Here’s a statement from Ben Golnik, an adviser to Cravaack for Congress campaign –

“Over the last year and a half, out-of-state special interest groups have falsely attacked Chip Cravaack. We expect the attacks to continue, as these special interest groups desperately try to prop up the struggling campaign of former Congressman Rick Nolan. Chip Cravaack has an unprecedented record of constituent outreach, and he will continue to focus on bringing more jobs back to the 8th District by supporting pro-growth tax reform to aid small business and reducing regulatory barriers to economic growth.”