SEIU launches radio ad campaign against Halvorson

The Service Employees International Union is launching radio ads ripping former Rep. Debbie Halvorson's (D-Ill.) on economic issues, making them the latest deep-pocketed group to go after her — but the first not to focus on her opposition to gun control.

The ad says Halvorson voted against extending unemployment benefits and voted for lower inheritance taxes, and "voted with Republicans 88 times."

"She calls herself a Democrat but votes with Republicans over and over again," the ad's narrator says. "We need someone who will stand with President Obama."

The narrator says to vote for one of the other candidates in the race — of which there are many. Halvorson, the only white candidate in a heavily African American district formerly held by Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), has a chance to win because of the crowded field, her high name identification in the district and her support in the district's far suburbs.

But the SEIU is just the latest to come out against her. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's (I) pro-gun-control super-PAC has already spent $1.3 million in ads and mail against Halvorson, and a number of local and state Democrats have endorsed her opponents, including Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), all of whom are backing former Cook County Administrator Robin Kelly (D).

Listen to the ad here.