CLF, AAN launch first ads in $13.5 million blitz

The American Action Network (AAN) and its super-PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), launched five ads as a part of the $15.3 million blitz it announced last week.

AAN launched ads targeting Democrat Jose Hernandez, running to unseat Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.); Rick Nolan, running to unseat Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-Minn.); Carol Shea-Porter, running to unseat Rep. Frank Guinta (R-N.H.); and Rep. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.), facing a challenge from Chris Collins. CLF is targeting the incumbent-on-incumbent matchup between Reps. Leonard Boswell (D) and Tom Latham (R) in Iowa.

Most of the ads focus on the candidates' congressional records, as both Nolan and Shea-Porter served time previously and remain vulnerable to those attacks. Shea-Porter is called a rubber stamp for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) agenda, while Boswell is targeted not only for his support for the stimulus but also for what the ad characterizes as "a giant national energy tax."

Hernandez is the only candidate in this spate of ads immune from those attacks, and the ad running against him instead says that he's not from the area and highlights a tax lien filed against his business.

CLF is spending over $2 million each on the Hernandez and Shea-Porter ads, and over $700,000 on the Hochul ad and $100,000 on the Nolan ad. CLF is spending over $450,000 on its ad in Iowa.

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