OVERNIGHT CAMPAIGN: Perdue cut work in India from bio

Georgia Republican David Perdue worked for an Indian company between his time running Dollar General and his decision to run for the Senate — a period that was removed from his business website’s biography shortly before he announced his campaign last spring.

Perdue had a senior consulting role at Indian chemical textile conglomerate Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd. (GHCL) between 2007 and 2009, helping the company as it looked into creating retail operations in India. He rarely if ever brings up his work for that company on the campaign trail, and his time with GHCL has not previously been reported on.

{mosads}Perdue has made his business career a central focus of his Senate campaign, touting himself as a can-do jobs creator and highlighting his work running Dollar General, Reebok, Sara Lee and other corporations. But Democrats — and some of his GOP opponents — have accused him of whitewashing the less flattering parts of his career, and recent documents highlighting his 2005 comments that he spent “most of [his] career” focused on outsourcing have led to renewed scrutiny of his business doings.

 

SENATE SHOWDOWN

NC-SEN (HAGAN): The National Republican Senatorial Committee is adding between $6 million and $6.5 million in a last-minute ad blitz against Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) heading into Election Day.

North Carolina Speaker Thom Tillis (R) once knocked entitlement spending as “de facto reparations.”

AR-SEN (PRYOR): Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) sparred over their loyalties in their first Senate debate, with Cotton repeatedly calling Pryor a “rubber stamp” for President Obama and Pryor saying Cotton’s campaign is an “investment” for his “billionaire friends.”

SD-SEN (OPEN): Former Sen. Larry Pressler (I-S.D.) sat on the board of a company that defrauded its investors.

Presslerfaced off against former South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds (R) and Democrat Rick Weiland in a Monday forum.

KS-SEN (ROBERTS): The Tea Party Express endorsed Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), a move that could help him shore up support from disaffected conservatives.

 

BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE

OUTSIDE GROUPS: The GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund and American Action Network have added $1.6 million to their TV ad spending targeting Reps. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.), Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), Pete Gallego (D-Texas) and Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.).

The Democratic House Majority PAC launched ads in a number of districts, including a few open seats where the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recently cut its buys.

The ads target the opponents of Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Dan Maffei (D-N.Y.), Pete Gallego (D-Texas) and Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), as well as hitting Reps. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), Lee Terry (R-Neb.), Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), and Republicans in open seats in California and Virginia. The DCCC recently cut spending against Coffman and Reed and targeting the Colorado seat

IL-10 (SCHNEIDER): Vice President Biden will headline an early voting event on Oct. 22 for Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) and other Democrats, according to Schneider’s campaign. Schneider is locked in a tough reelection battle against former Rep. Bob Dold (R-Ill.), who won the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune on Monday.

NY-24 (MAFFEI): Vice President Biden is adding to his packed campaign schedule with a swing next week through upstate New York to headline a rally for Rep. Dan Maffei (D-N.Y.) in his race against Republican John Katko.

AZ-1 (KIRKPATRICK): Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) declined to endorse former Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin (R), who’s running against Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), in an interview with The Hill. 

AD WATCH

KY-SEN (MCCONNELL): Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is out with a new ad chiding Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) for dodging an editorial board question on whether she voted for President Obama. 

Grimes released an ad featuring former Sen. Wendell Ford (D-Kent.). 

GA-SEN (OPEN): Businessman David Perdue (R) is out with his a new ad defending his business record, saying that he “helped create and save thousands of American jobs, regardless of what Michelle Nunn says.”

SD-SEN (OPEN): The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee hits former South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds (R) for the visa scandal that has damaged his campaign in their first ad against him.

AR-SEN (PRYOR): Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) accuses Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) in a new ad of voting to cut money for the state children’s hospital while voting “to give billionaires huge tax breaks.”

Cotton slams President Obama on foreign policy and touts his military background in his own new spot. 

LA-SEN (LANDRIEU): Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-La.) new ad features four CEOs, including three Republicans, touting her work for the state.

MI-SEN (OPEN): Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) hits former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land (R) on women’s issues in a new ad.

VA-SEN (WARNER): Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is out with a new ad focused on his work to help military families.

DCCC: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched ads targeting GOP Reps. Steve Southerland (Fla.), Rodney Davis (Ill.), Michael Grimm (N.Y.) and open-seat Iowa candidate David Young, as well as challengers Martha McSalley (Ariz.) and Jeff Gorrell. They also have a new online ad that blames Republicans for cutting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s budget to fight diseases like Ebola. 

NH-2 (KUSTER): The Club for Growth is out with an ad hitting Rep. Ann Kuster (D-N.H.) on taxes, part of a $750,000 direct mail campaign against her.

VA-10 (OPEN): Virginia Del. Barbara Comstock (R) hits Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust (D) as a “tax-raising Obama Democrat” in a new ad.

MN-8 (NOLAN): Businessman Stewart Mills (R) says Rep. Rick Nolan (D-Minn.) is attacking him for “having long hair and a family that started a successful business” in a new ad.

 

POLL POSITION

GA-SEN (OPEN): Businessman David Perdue (R) and former charity executive Michelle Nunn (D) are tied at 46 percent support apiece in a new automated poll from Landmark. 

NC-SEN (HAGAN): Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) and North Carolina Speaker Thom Tillis (R) are tied at 40 percent apiece in a new live-caller poll from High Point University. Libertarian Sean Haugh pulls 7 percent. 

CO-SEN (UDALL): Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) trails Republican challenger Rep. Cory Gardner 43 percent to 45 percent in a new SurveyUSA poll. Udall held a 4-point advantage in the poll last month. Gardner has cut into Udall’s lead among independents and women in the poll.

SD-SEN (OPEN): Former South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds (R) continues to lead in the state’s Senate race, but his advantage over Democrat Rick Weiland and independent Larry Pressler has narrowed in recent weeks to 37 percent, compared to Weiland’s 33 percent, according to a new automated poll from Republican-aligned Harper Polling.

NH-SEN (SHAHEEN): A new SurveyUSA poll shows the race tightening, with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) holding just a two-point lead over Republican Scott Brown at 48 percent to 46 percent.

KS-SEN (ROBERTS): Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) has narrowed independent Greg Orman’s lead in the Kansas Senate race, according to Democratic automated firm Public Policy Polling. Orman leads Roberts 44 percent to 41 percent, with libertarian Randall Batson taking 5 percent. 

MA-6 (OPEN): Former Massachusetts state Sen. Richard Tisei (R-Mass.) leads Democrat Seth Moulton 44 percent to 42 percent in a new poll from the GOP-aligned American Unity PAC.   

WV-3 (RAHALL): A new poll conducted for Evan Jenkins (R) shows that he’s leading Rep. Nick Rahall 50 percent to 44 percent.

CA-17 (HONDA): Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) and challenger Ro Khanna (D) are tied at 38 percent each, according to the new survey released by Khanna’s campaign. Honda’s campaign put out a survey of its own that had Honda leading 42 percent to 27 percent.

UT-4 (OPEN): Republican Mia Love leads Democrat Doug Owens 49 percent to 40 percent, according to a new poll by Utah Policy.  

 

FUNDRAISING FIGURES

COMMITTEES: The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $16 million in September, edging the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s $15.5 million. The DSCC has raised $29 million more this election cycle.

GA-SEN (OPEN): Businessman David Perdue raised $4.8 million in the last fundraising quarter, while former charity executive Michelle Nunn (D) raised $4.15 million. Neither released cash-on-hand totals, though Nunn had a $4 million cash edge heading into the quarter.

 

2016 RUMBLINGS

WARREN: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is heading to Iowa to help Rep. Bruce Braley’s (D-Iowa) Senate bid. She’s also swinging by to help Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.).

OUTSIDE MONEY: American Crossroads says it will likely stay on the sidelines in the 2016 GOP presidential primaries. 

CLINTON: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hit Kentucky and Colorado on Monday, fundraising and barnstorming for Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.).

ROMNEY: Mitt Romney was in Iowa over the weekend stumping for state Sen. Joni Ernst (R), and some of his allies say he’s feeling pressure to run for the White House again.

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Let’s be honest. Does anyone not believe that Congressman Annie Kuster is as ugly as sin? And I hope I haven’t offended sin.” — New Hampshire state Rep. Steve Vaillancourt, (R) in a blog post comparing the looks of the incumbent Democrat to her younger Republican challenger

This post was updated at 9:50 p.m.