Burr targets Dem opponent over paying taxes

Vulnerable North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr’s (R) campaign unveiled a new digital ad on Monday that targets former state Rep. Deborah Ross (D) over whether she’s paid state and federal income taxes.

{mosads}The 30-second spot cites a recent Raleigh News & Observer story reporting that Ross and her husband benefited from $267,000 in tax credits between 2006 and 2014 when renovating their historic house. The story noted that as a state representative, Ross worked to preserve those credits.

Last week, Burr called on Ross to release the first two pages of her tax returns to see whether her family used those tax credits to avoid paying state and federal income taxes.

“Deborah Ross isn’t about serving North Carolina,” the ad’s narrator says. “She’s about serving her bottom line.”

Ross’s campaign said “she paid her taxes” and spokeswoman Helen Hare said Ross won’t “engage in his desperate political stunts” when asked about releasing the returns. Her campaign noted that it has called on Burr to release his full schedule in the wake of the North Carolina Democratic Party’s report that the GOP senator missed nearly 70 percent of Armed Service Committee hearings.

The North Carolina race is one of several that could determine control of the Senate. Democrats need to net five seats, or four if they retain the White House, to retake control of the upper chamber.

Ross had been closing the gap in the Tar Heel State, but Burr has recently regained his edge in the race and RealClearPolitics polling average has him ahead by 3 points. A new Monmouth University poll released Monday has Burr ahead by 6 points, outperforming Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in the state.