American Action Network, a D.C.-based conservative group led by former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, is taking aim at U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy in Connecticut's 5th District.
The group has apparently begun running ads in Connecticut critical of Murphy. (Note: I could not find the anti-Murphy spot on the group's website or on YouTube. Murphy spokeswoman Kristen Bossi says the ad begun airing today. I called the group's Washington office this afternoon, but the office was closed and I was unable to reach a live person.)
American Action Network is spending $19 million on House races across the country, according to Politico. While the group's "hit list" includes Democrats deemed vulnerable, it is also targeting some Democratic incumbents deemed less vulnerable, according to the story by Alex Isenstadt and John Bresnahan. Murphy, as well as U.S. Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut's 4th District, is in the second group.
Murphy is planning a press conference in New Britain on Friday to denounce what he called an "attack ad funded by [a] shadowy D.C. group...funded and run by Wall Street millionaires and linked to Karl Rove."
"The organization is spending $800,000 on these attacks,'' the Murphy campaign asserts, "and their agenda puts Wall Street ahead of Connecticut: more tax breaks for the wealthy, more unfair trade deals, and no accountability for Wall Street's riskiest practices."
Murphy, a two-term incumbent, is facing a challenge from Republican Sam Caligiuri, a state senator from Waterbury.