Politico reports:
With Scott Brown poised to run for Senate in New Hampshire, American Crossroads will launch a $600,000 ad buy next week against incumbent Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
The Republican super PAC says the contrast spot will begin running statewide on broadcast television Tuesday, including in Boston — where many Granite State voters get their news.
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Brown’s entry into the race is expected to give Republicans another prime pick-up opportunity in a purple state and reflects rising confidence in the GOP that it can win the six seats needed to gain a Senate majority in November.
“I’ve been involved in Senate races for more than two decades, and I have not seen a field of play grow so rapidly since 1980,” said Steven Law, the president of Crossroads. “Scott Brown has the potential to be the 52nd or 53rd Republican senator elected in 2014. He knows the issues, is aligned with the state, can raise money and is one of the best recruits of the cycle.”
Brown’s move comes in the wake of Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) challenging Democratic Sen. Mark Udall and former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie taking on Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.).The Wall Street Journal adds:
The ad campaign, which will be broadcast statewide throughout next week, aims to give Mr. Brown a bump in the polls as he prepares to announce his candidacy. A Suffolk University-Boston Herald poll last week showed Mr. Brown trailing Ms. Shaheen by 13 points, and found his favorability ratings 20 percentage points lower than hers. Still, as recently as January, two polls showed the race would be neck-in-neck if Mr. Brown ran.
Ms. Shaheen, who has seen her ratings sag since she was first elected to the Senate in 2008, is considered vulnerable due to her support of the Affordable Care Act, which has brought big problems to the Granite State. Republicans have been imploring Mr. Brown to join the race, as polls show that among possible GOP contenders, he is most likely to win the seat. Republicans hope his candidacy will put New Hampshire in play, just as GOP Rep. Cory Gardner’s Senate bid did in Colorado earlier this month.
Democrats groups including the Senate Majority PAC and the League of Conservation Voters have already run ads attacking Mr. Brown, and American Bridge sent out an email Friday morning highlighting gaffes from his 2012 Senate campaign in Massachusetts, which he lost to Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
American Crossroads’ campaign is its second buy of the cycle. In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s special election in Florida’s 13th district, the group spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on an ad campaign knocking Democrat Alex Sink. RepublicanDavid Jolly won the race by a slim margin.
