Crossroads Up With New Ad Backed by Big Money

The juggernaut pro-Republican organization Crossroads GPS launched a new ad today in key presidential swing states backed by $7 million.

“Why isn’t the economy stronger?” a throaty male narrator asks at the beginning of the ad over an image of an old-fashion stopwatch. “In the seconds it takes to watch this, our national debt will increase 1.4 million.”

The ad then shows a 2008 clip of President Barack Obama in which he says, “We can’t mortgage our children’s future on a mountain of debt.”

North Dakota: Rick Berg Backs Brian Kalk for His House Seat

(Rep. Rick Berg, who is running for Senate, endorsed Brian Kalk in the GOP primary for his seat. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Rep. Rick Berg (R) endorsed Public Service Commissioner Brian Kalk in the competitive GOP primary for the state’s at-large House seat, putting him at odds with some tea-party-affiliated groups.

“Obviously I’m supporting the candidates that were endorsed by the state convention,” Berg said in a wide-ranging interview with Roll Call last week.

Berg is leaving the House after a single term to run for an open Senate seat. A recent poll showed the GOP primary to succeed him is competitive. His endorsement doesn’t come as a big surprise. The state GOP convention also backed Berg for Senate over his primary competition, businessman Duane Sand, a frequent statewide candidate. In endorsing Kalk he’s sticking with the state GOP’s preferred ticket. Full story

Arizona: Club for Growth Targets Wil Cardon on TV

The Club for Growth is targeting Republican Senate candidate Wil Cardon with $500,000 in radio and television ads.

The club, which has endorsed Rep. Jeff Flake (R), has begun a series of ads targeting Cardon, a wealthy real estate investor.

This latest blitz includes two 15-second television ads and a 60-second radio ad. Each questions Cardon’s fiscal conservative credentials.

Cardon spokeswoman Alyssa Pivirotto wrote in an email statement that the club is “hell-bent on using an onslaught of attack ads to distract voters.” She questioned the truthfulness of the ads’ content and added, “Clearly these are desperate times at Flake headquarters and for the out-of-state wealthy interests who have used him to carry their water in Congress.”

Cardon and Flake are vying to succeed Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R), who is retiring. Roll Call rates this race as Leans Republican. Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona is the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Connecticut: Chris Donovan Facing Campaign Scandal

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

State Speaker Chris Donovan, the Democratic frontrunner in the 5th district, is in a heap of political trouble.

On Wednesday, his campaign aide Robert Braddock Jr. was arrested and charged with improperly concealing campaign contributions ostensibly solicited to kill state legislation to regulate tobacco, according to the Connecticut Mirror.

Donovan has denied any awareness of the activity and promised to press on with his campaign. Full story

Minnesota: James Oberstar Endorses Rick Nolan in Democratic Primary

Former Rep. James Oberstar endorsed former Rep. Rick Nolan for Oberstar's old House seat. (Scott J. Ferrell/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Former Rep. James Oberstar (D) has endorsed an old friend to take back his seat in Congress.

Today, he announced his official endorsement of former Rep. Rick Nolan in the Democratic primary for the chance to challenge Rep. Chip Cravaack in the general election.

Oberstar’s statement was a veiled message to Democrats to coalesce around Nolan over his primary opponent, former state Sen. Tarryl Clark. Full story

Michigan: DCCC Sends Staffer to 11th District

National Democrats dispatched a staffer to Michigan’s 11th district this week — a sign that they believe their candidate, internist Syed Taj, could be competitive in the race for GOP-leaning open seat.

Taj’s race wasn’t on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s radar until about a week ago, when Rep. Thaddeus McCotter failed to make the ballot because he didn’t have enough valid signatures.

But McCotter announced his retirement over the weekend after briefly attempting a write-in campaign.

Now Republicans must decide whether to support Kerry Bentivolio, a libertarian-leaning reindeer farmer and their only candidate on the GOP ballot, or another Republican’s write-in campaign for the Aug. 7 primary.

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New York: Retiring Rep. Ed Towns Endorses Charles Barron

Retiring New York Democratic Rep. Ed Towns today endorsed New York City Councilman Charles Barron (D) to be his successor in Congress.

It may give a boost to Barron, seen as the underdog in the Democratic primary against state Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries in the Brooklyn-based 8th district, most of which is currently represented by Towns.

“Independent voices are needed more than ever in today’s political environment,” Towns said in a statement. “That’s why I am giving my support to Charles Barron who has been an independent voice over the years. He is unselfish and is definitely has the interests of the people of this district at heart.” Full story

Illinois: Democrats Set Up Application Process in 12th District

Illinois Democrats this weekend set up their process to select a new nominee in the open 12th district seat. Meanwhile, at least one more potential candidate emerged.

William Enyart, the adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard, is the newest name to express an interest in running for retiring Rep. Jerry Costello’s (D) seat.

Democrats were forced to fill a vacancy on the ballot after their nominee unexpectedly dropped out of the race for health reasons. Local county party leaders will pick a replacement candidate in the coming weeks to face businessman Jason Plummer, the GOP nominee. Full story

Arizona: House Majority PAC Airs TV Ad Against Jesse Kelly

With about a week left to vote, the Democratic group House Majority PAC has gone on the Tucson airwaves with a television ad that includes a clip of veteran Jesse Kelly (R) personally attacking then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in the 2010 campaign.

The ad is backed by a six-figure buy. Kelly is running against former Giffords aide Ron Barber in the 8th district special election to replace the former Congresswoman, who resigned earlier this year to focus on recovering from being shot.

The ad comes one day after it was announced that Giffords will appear at a “Get Out the Vote Concert and Rally” to support Barber ahead of next week’s special election. Saturday’s event at the Rialto Theatre in Tucson will include artists such as Salvador Duran and the Kevin Pakulis Band.

Florida: Connie Mack IV Gets Mike Lee Endorsement

UPDATED 6:32 p.m. | Rep. Connie Mack IV, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for Senate in Florida, shored up his conservative credentials today with the endorsement of tea-party-affiliated conservative Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

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Cathy McMorris Rodgers Named as Mitt Romney’s House Liaison

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney today named Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) his House liaison, a major new role for the 5th-ranking House Republican who has become the face of the House GOP on women’s issues.

“She understands the impact of the economic challenges Americans face and the need to put our country on a better track. As a member of the leadership team in the House, she will be a helpful partner in our efforts to ensure our focus remains on the critical issue of economic security for all Americans,” Romney said in a statement.

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Michigan: McCotter Drops Write-In Bid and Retires

(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) declared Saturday he would not wage a write-in campaign, ending an uphill bid to keep his seat after failing to make the primary ballot last week.

“I have ended my write-in campaign in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District,” McCotter said in a statement posted on his website.

McCotter did not make the primary ballot when his campaign only turned in 244 valid signatures — far less than the 1,000 required by the secretary of state to run for Congress in Michigan. McCotter was dumbfounded, and Republicans were livid at their colleague for putting an otherwise safe GOP seat in play.

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Massachusetts: New Polls Show Senate Race a Dead Heat

Two new polls showed the white-hot Massachusetts Senate race between GOP Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren to be neck-and-neck. The race remains essentially tied despite weeks of controversy surrounding Warren’s intermittent claims during her professional career that she is of Native American heritage.

A Boston Globe/University of New Hampshire poll of likely voters found Brown getting 39 percent to Warren’s 37 percent in a matchup. Twenty-three percent of those surveyed were undecided.

A Springfield Republican newspaper/Western New England University Polling Institute poll of registered voters found Brown getting 43 percent to Warren’s 45 percent. Eleven percent of those surveyed were undecided. Full story

Arizona: Cardon TV Ad Uses Questionable Image

Update: 6:03 p.m. | Real estate investor Wil Cardon’s Senate campaign essentially conceded today that it used a misleading image of GOP primary opponent Rep. Jeff Flake in its latest television advertisement.

In the spot, Flake is pictured standing with President Barack Obama at what appears to be a Capitol Hill press conference. The screen shot shows Obama speaking from a podium with Flake on stage, looking on from behind. The Flake campaign accused the Cardon campaign of using a false image. The Cardon campaign did not deny the charge.

“We used multiple images of Congressman Flake and President Obama to demonstrate the similarity of their positions on amnesty,” Cardon campaign spokeswoman Alyssa Pivirotto said. “The pictures aren’t the point. The voters of Arizona deserve to know the real truth: For 12 years, Congressman Jeff Flake has stood beside liberals in Washington supporting amnesty.”

A Flake campaign spokesman emailed Roll Call and charged that the image of Flake and Obama in the House Gallery was photoshopped by the Cardon campaign.

“Wil Cardon’s dishonest campaign for Senate continues to mislead voters and rely on doctored photos,” Flake spokesman Andrew Wilder wrote in an email. “The truth is that Jeff Flake is a leading supporter for securing our border and does not support amnesty.”

Wilder also sent a link to  Rep. Jack Kingston’s (R-Ga.) Flickr page, which shows a similar image to the one used in the ad. But instead of President Obama at the podium, the shot on the Kingston website has Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) at the podium.

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North Dakota: Report Shows Heidi Heitkamp Spending Cash

Former North Dakota Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp (D) spent more cash than she raised in the last several weeks, according to her most recent fundraising report.

Heitkamp raised $497,100 and spent $581,700 in the official pre-primary period from April 1 through May 23. Her spokesman, Brandon Lorenz, attributed the heavy campaign spending to recent television buys but declined to divulge the exact size of the campaign’s advertisement buys.

The Democrat’s likely opponent this fall, Rep. Rick Berg (R), raised $443,300 and spent $389,200 during the same period.

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