Dem Super PAC Looks to Put Coors on Ice in Colorado

House Majority PAC is up with another TV ad hitting a Republican challenger this morning. But there’s a bit more behind the new spot, which goes after Republican Joe Coors in Colorado’s 7th Congressional District.

The ad (which you can see after the jump) is part of a two-week, $500,000 buy in the Denver media market and criticizes Coors for “supporting and funding” Colorado’s failed personhood initiative. Coors donated $1,000 to the initiative, which would have banned abortion, in 2010, and he said in August that he wouldn’t support another try for the ballot measure. But it’s still a potent attack in Denver’s suburbs, where socially liberal voters have moved toward Democrats in recent years. This ad buy also serves as a neat example of why House Majority PAC exists in the first place.

Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter, the 7th District’s incumbent, doesn’t seem a likely candidate for a tough race after surviving 2010. Perlmutter’s district is more than 40 percent new to him, but it’s only slightly less Democratic-leaning than the old version of his seat. But Coors, from the wealthy brewing family, has already invested over $600,000 of his own money in the race and has run over $700,000 worth of TV ads, with another $1.8 million of TV time reserved between today and Election Day, according to Democratic media tracking.

Combined, that’s more than the total campaign budget for many House members, and Perlmutter stands a chance of getting swamped without the benefit of a district full of voters already familiar with him. The Coors campaign released a poll in August with Coors leading and Perlmutter languishing below 40 percent. Private Democratic polling doesn’t show that dire a situation for Perlmutter, but the race is competitive.