LCV Targets Flake in First Arizona Senate Ad
By Julie Sobel // October 15, 2012 | 2:17 p.m.
Updated at 3:51 p.m.
The League of Conservation Voters announced their first expenditure in Arizona's Senate race, a contest that once seemed like a likely Republican hold but now appears to be a dead heat with just over three weeks left before Election Day.
In partnership with Majority PAC, LCV is launching a $450,000 ad buy that LCV senior vice president of campaigns Navin Nayak said would run for the next week in the Phoenix media market.
"Mining for radio-active uranium here would threaten our waters here," says the ad's narrator. "And Jeff Flake pushed to make it happen. Flake sponsored legislation to allow uranium mining that would threaten the Colorado River. By companies like the one he worked for as a lobbyist."
The ad features pictures of a young girl drinking water interspersed with shots of the Grand Canyon.
"Jeff Flake has never supported or advocated for mining in Grand Canyon National Park, but it's no surprise that liberal, out-of-state allies of Richard Carmona would seek to distort his record," said Flake spokesperson Andrew Wilder. "The League of Conservation Voters supports cap-and-trade, opposes building the Keystone Pipeline and is to the left of even President Obama on many issues, and so Arizonans are right to ask why they clearly see a future ally for that agenda in Richard Carmona."
Flake is in a tight race with former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona.
Nayak announced the foray into Arizona on a conference call with reporters. He also announced a new ad targeting Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, R-N.Y., one of the House members in LCV's "Flat Earth Five" program. The $200,000 buy will run in the Syracuse media market starting tomorrow.
The spot hits Buerkle on voting to "gut clean air laws, and the clean water act," taking money from "big oil" and voting to give them tax breaks, and for calling climate change a "myth." The spot ties Buerkle to "tea party extremists," with pictures of Rush Limbaugh and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin flashing across the screen.
Buerkle is in a close contest with former Democratic Rep. Dan Maffei.
Nayak said the group is continuing to monitor the Senate races in Nevada, Wisconsin, and Maine, and may still get involved in another contest.
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