Dem super-PAC launches digital ads against Nevada’s Joe Heck

A major Democratic super-PAC launched digital ads in Nevada on Tuesday, hitting Rep. Joe Heck’s (R-Nev.) Senate bid and record in Washington. 

The Senate Majority PAC, run by allies of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), launched a $1.5 million national digital campaign last week, targeting vulnerable Republicans running for Senate. The ads will run on Facebook, Twitter, and Google. 

Heck, who’s running for Reid’s open seat, will likely face Democratic candidate, former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto. 

The ads hit the Nevada congressman for siding with Congressional Republicans “to push a special interest, self-serving agenda.” It also focuses on “Heck consistently voting for the Koch Brothers’ agenda in Congress, where in 2013 alone Heck voted with the Kochs 100% of the time.” 

{mosads}The ads also link to the super-PAC’s report on Heck’s record, which highlights his support for “plans to cut Medicare, raise the retirement age for Social Security, and scale back Pell Grants, and block an increase in the minimum wage.” 

One of the Google ads reads, “Joe Heck promised to be an independent voice, but Washington changed him.” 

Shripal Shah, a spokesman for Senate Majority PAC, said in a release, “Congress has turned Joe Heck into a party line, Washington Republican. Our ad campaign will tell voters the truth about Heck’s record of pushing a self-serving agenda in Washington that puts special interests first at the expense of people across Nevada.” 

The super-PAC’s digital campaign already lobbed attacks against Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), who faces a tough reelection bid in a key swing-state. The ads criticized Toomey, saying he “voted with partisan Republicans 93% of the time, and for the Koch Brothers’ special interest agenda 96% of the time, including 100% of the time in 2015.” 

The group has also run TV ads — the first of the 2016 cycle — against Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), another Republican incumbent running in a critical battleground state.

Democrats must net five seats to regain majority in the Senate. They need to defend 10 seats, compared to Republicans, who must defend 24.