The battle for the 8th Congressional District is one of the most watched and costliest congressional races in the country. And it is about to get more expensive.
There is news that another $1.9 million is being spent on this race by a Republican group for an ad campaign against the incumbent DFL congressman Rick Nolan.
A super PAC affiliated with the house GOP leadership and former US Senator Norm Coleman called the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) is rolling out the ad campaign against Nolan, according to a CLF press release.
The Congressional Leadership Fund, per its website, is a super PAC exclusively dedicated to protecting and strengthening the Republican Majority in the House of Representatives.
CLF’s first ad against Nolan’s is entitled “ISIS Recruits” and targets the congressman’s “failed record on national security that puts Minnesota communities and our nation at risk” as stated by the PAC’s press release. Fresh off the recent mall stabbings at St. Cloud’s Crossroads Mall, where 22-year-old Dahir Adan attacked shoppers with a knife before being shot by off-duty police officer, Jason Falconer, the ad’s graphics state “ISIS Claims Responsibility for the Minnesota Mall Attack” and “We Lead The Nation in the Number of Recruits for ISIS.”
“Terrorism strikes close to home in Minnesota, yet Rick Nolan continues his failed kid-glove treatment of state sponsors of terrorism,” said Ruth Guerra, spokeswoman for CLF in the press release. “Rick Nolan’s frail response to terrorism is failing Minnesotans worried about deadly terrorism at home and abroad.”
Nolan and his challenger, Republican Stewart Mills have seen $6.6 million in outside spending in this race. Nolan and Mills themselves have spent $1.6 million through the end of July, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Total spending on the CD8 Congressional race is $4.4 million for Mills, slightly ahead of Nolan’s $4.2 million. Previously, Nolan had more support from outside groups until the Congressional Leadership Fund ad campaign.
The campaign is airing on broadcast, cable and online in the Minneapolis-St. Paul and Duluth media markets beginning this week as part of CLF’s $1.9 million independent expenditure campaign in the race. Additionally, American Action Network, CLF’s 501c4 sister organization, is spending $300,000 in independent expenditures on door-to-door GOTV activities in the district.
