GOP Senate hopeful seizes on Braley’s attack on Grassley

Retired energy executive Mark Jacobs is using an insult Rep. Bruce Braley (D) made this week toward Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in his new TV ad. 

Earlier this week, a video surfaced showing Braley denouncing Grassley as “a farmer from Iowa who never want to law school.” Braley was speaking at a fundraiser with trial lawyers in Texas, and later apologized. 

“Iowa needs a leader who will work with Senator Grassley,” it said at the end of a new ad released by Jacobs’ campaign on Friday.

{mosads}Most of the 30-second ad consists of the clip of Braley making the disparaging comments. Jacobs’s campaign said the ad will air in Eastern Iowa cable markets.

Jacobs is running in the crowded GOP primary for the open seat Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) will leave at the end of the year. Braley is the only Democrat running. 

“To put this in stark contrast, if you help me win this race you may have someone with your background, your experience, your voice, someone who’s been literally fighting tort reform for thirty years,” Braley said in the clip.

“Or, you might have a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school, never practiced law, serving as the next chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee,” he continued. 

Jacobs also posted an online petition calling on Braley to send back or donate the money he made at the Texas fundraiser.

Several other Republican groups have also been highlighting Braley’s remarks.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, for instance, has been making robo-calls in Iowa attacking Braley. Conservative group Priorities for Iowa launched a TV ad charging Braley with “putting Iowa’s Senate seat up for sale.”

Grassley could earn the Senate Judiciary Committee’s gavel if the GOP wins control of the Senate next year. He currently serves as its ranking member.