Dems target Grimm in new TV ad

The Democrats’ campaign arm launched a new television ad this weekend targeting embattled GOP Rep. Michael Grimm (N.Y.), who was indicted earlier this year on multiple counts of tax evasion and obstruction of justice.

{mosads}The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is hoping those legal woes will alienate voters in Grimm’s Staten Island district, where he’s running a tight race against former New York City Councilman Domenic Recchia.

The 30-second ad features several of Grimm’s constituents raising questions about his moral fitness to serve in Congress.

“Does he think he’s above the law?” asks Rita Fares.

“Are you kidding me?” asks Robert Olivari.

“Congressman Grimm let Staten Island down,” says Belinda Dixon.

Those voices are interspersed with clips of Loretta Lynch, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announcing the charges against Grimm, and Grimm responding with proclamations of his innocence.

“I’m a man of integrity,” Grimm says at one point.

“I know I’m a moral man,” he says at another.

Despite Grimm’s legal woes, the race remains close – at least in part because Recchia has little name recognition and hails from Brooklyn, which makes up just over a quarter of the district.

The Cook Political Report, an online election handicapper, currently rates the race a toss up.

The DCCC ad is running on cable TV in New York City beginning Sunday.