Dem super-PAC launches ad for Minn. congressman

The House Majority PAC and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) are going on the air to defend Rep. Rick Nolan (D-Minn.), the latest sign that Republican Stewart Mills’s campaign is increasingly concerning Democrats.

{mosads}The Democratic super-PAC and public employees union attack Mills, a wealthy self-funder who’s been on the air with ads in recent weeks, painting him as out of touch with the middle class.

“Stewart Mills inherited his millions and got a family job paying $560,000 a year. Now Stewart Mills is against raising the minimum wage but wants another tax break for the wealthy because paying his fair share is ‘personally offensive.’ Stewart Mills is just out of touch,” the ad says, after playing a clip of Mills talking about taxes.

That the group is spending in the Democratic-leaning district is the latest sign that Nolan isn’t safe. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee admitted as much last week, adding him to their Frontline incumbent protection program. Democrats privately say they’re concerned that Nolan, who is in his first term back in Congress after serving a stint in the 1970s, has so far refused to run a modern campaign and is putting his job at risk.

Mills’s campaign fired back, accusing the group of taking his comments out of context. 

“It looks like Rick Nolan’s campaign is so worried about their chances in November that they’ve called in Washington special interests to attack Stewart’s business experience,” Mills spokeswoman Chloe Rockow said in an email. “But the ad is misleading, inaccurate, and just plain wrong. I guess when you’ve got an out of touch candidate like Rick Nolan, you’ll say whatever it takes to keep him in office.”

This post was updated at 9:30 p.m.