Senate races

GOP group touting Monica Wehby in Ore. GOP primary

A super-PAC launched by Republican strategist Alex Castellanos is launching ads in the Oregon Senate Republican primary boosting Monica Wehby’s profile.

{mosads}The group, called New Republican, is airing two television ads as well as a radio ad, according to the Oregonian, all touting Wehby’s background as a pediatric neurosurgeon and highlighting her appeal to women.

The first ad is 30 seconds of shots of women’s feet clad in everything from heels to flats to rainboots, which a narrator declares “are the workboots building the fastest-growing part of Oregon’s economy.”

“Dr. Monica Wehby: Someone we can trust to open doors for all of us,” the narrator adds.

The second ad touts the candidate as an “independent conservative, mother of four, honored baby doctor.”

The group is reportedly spending $76,000 in advertising in the Portland media market.

It’s the second outside group airing ads for Wehby in the race, who’s facing state Rep. Jason Conger in the primary. National establishment and conservative figures have begun to line up behind the candidate, as they see her as the GOP’s best shot at taking down Sen. Jeff Merkley, and an attractive potential addition to the party to boot.

Merkley, however, remains favored in the traditionally blue state.