Indiana GOP Rep. Todd Young’s Senate campaign is launching a new TV ad and website accusing his rival, former Sen. Evan Bayh, of abandoning Indiana during the recession for Washington insiders and Wall Street.
{mosads}The 30-second spot targets Bayh, who served in the upper chamber from 1999 to 2011, and argues that he put “Washington insiders and Wall Street bankers who got us into that mess” ahead of “struggling” Indiana families. The ad, titled “Bayh Left Us,” will start running statewide on Friday.
“Instead of going to work for us, Evan Bayh went to work for them,” the ad’s narrator says, “making millions as a big-money influencer in D.C. and cashed in with the big banks.”
The campaign also unveiled a new website, BayhLeftUs.com, that provides a timeline starting in 1998, when he was first elected to the Senate, and ticks through his congressional tenure and his joining a lobbying firm following his retirement, and ending in 2015 when he purchased a second home in Washington.
Bayh campaign spokesman Ben Ray pushed back on the media campaign and instead knocked Young for several of his positions on the auto industry and trade deals.
“Congressman Young called saving 100,000 Indiana auto jobs a ‘waste,’ wants to leave Hoosier workers defenseless against bad trade deals, and took money from Carrier executives even after the announced they were shipping 2,000 Indiana jobs to Mexico,” Ray said. “With a record like that, it’s no wonder he’s resigned himself to trying to smear Evan Bayh.”
The race between Bayh and Young has been upgraded to a toss-up and even Democratic-leaning by several nonpartisan election watchers as the race for the Senate majority heats up.
Democrats needs to net five seats — or four if they retain the White House — to regain control of the Senate. They only need to defend 10 seats, while Republicans will need to defend 24.
Bayh entered the race with $9 million and high name recognition. Some polls have Bayh up by double digits, but a survey released Friday has the former Democratic senator ahead by only 4 points.
Young and Republican outside groups have repeatedly hit Bayh over his residency and paint him as a Washington lobbyist. In one interview, Bayh said he “sacrificed” moving to the wealthy D.C. neighborhood of Georgetown, and a CNN report found he’s classified as an “inactive” voter in Indiana.