Dems try to tie Heller to Sharron Angle — in Spanish

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is out with a new Spanish-language radio ad tying Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) to Sharron Angle, the Tea Party-backed Republican who won the nomination for Senate in Nevada in 2010, then lost in the general election.

"A Republican that wants to get to the Senate by way of an anti-Latino campaign," the narrator says in Spanish. "Sound familiar? In Republican Dean Heller we have another Sharron Angle."

Angle had a difficult relationship with Nevada's large Hispanic population when she ran for Senate two years ago, famously telling a group of Hispanic students that they looked more Asian to her.

One source tracking the ad market said Democrats were spending just over $5,000 on airtime to run the ads, but another source put the figure closer to $15,000.

The DSCC said the spot would run in the Las Vegas and Reno, Nev. markets, but did not disclose the size of the buy.

But the ad is part of a broader effort by Democrats to reach out to Hispanic voters in Nevada as they work to shore up Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), the Democratic recruit for the seat. In early November, the DSCC released another Spanish-language ad claiming that Heller had insulted Hispanics by not meeting with the Latin Chamber of Commerce.

Republicans have also been on the air in Spanish in Nevada, releasing a radio ad earlier in February tying Berkley to President Obama and his position on contraception coverage and the Catholic Church.

Heller is running for his first full term after being appointed to replace former Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.). His seat is one that Democrats are most hopeful about flipping in November as they work to hold on to their fragile majority in the Senate.

- This post was updated at 9:37 p.m.

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