NRSC ramps up attacks targeting Landrieu for husband’s lobbyist ties

by Alexandra Jaffe - 09/23/13 9:35 PM ET

{mosads}The committee sent mailers to 2,000 “opinion leaders, shapers and activists” in Louisiana and Washington, D.C., according to an NRSC source, that characterizes the “Landrieu team” as “sold.” They also passed the mailers out outside of a Landrieu fundraiser on Thursday.

The mailer is fashioned after a real estate listing, and states that the Landrieu team is “serving K Street, Capitol Hill, and Washington’s most influential in need of premier real estate.”

The inside of the mailer outlines the work Landrieu’s husband, real estate broker Frank Snellings, has done for Washington lobbyists with business over which Landrieu has some influence, as well as with donors to Landrieu’s campaigns.

According to reports, Tony Podesta, cofounder of the prolific Podesta Group, has retained Snellings to sell the Capitol Hill townhouse where he hosts prominent fundraisers and receptions.

The Podesta Group lobbies for a number of firms that have business before Landrieu, including Lockheed Martin, one of the biggest contractors for the Department of Homeland Security — a department over which Landrieu, as chairwoman of the Appropriations Homeland Security subcommittee, has some influence.

The mailer asks: “Is Senator Landrieu representing Louisiana or her husband’s powerful lobbyist clients?”

It’s part of a multi-pronged attack focused on Landrieu’s husband’s work, and is one phase in what an NRSC source said is much more to come. The committee already launched a website, LandrieuforSale.com, that further outlines Snellings’ work.

It’s early still in the cycle, and Snellings’ work violates no Ethics rules. But the issue is one Republicans believe could be a troubling one for Landrieu as she faces what’s sure to be a difficult reelection fight.

Though she’s survived tough fights before and has already amassed nearly $5 million cash in the bank, Republicans believe Louisiana’s increasingly red lean could spell her demise this cycle. She’s one of the GOP’s top targets in 2014, and their path back to the majority runs through four Democratic-held red states, three of which are must-wins for the party.