Abortion rights group ties vulnerable Republicans in Senate races to Trump

An abortion rights group is tying a trio of Republican lawmakers in top Senate races to GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump as part of its closing argument of the election cycle.

{mosads}NARAL Pro-Choice America is unveiling three new ads on Tuesday — first obtained by The Hill — that use Trump’s own controversial comments about women to link GOP Sens. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) and Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Rep. Joe Heck (Nev.) to the billionaire. 

The ads intersperse Trump’s remarks — including calling Clinton a “nasty woman” — with the Democratic presidential nominee’s comments from the first presidential debate of 2016. 

“Donald thinks belittling women makes him bigger,” Clinton says in the ads. “He goes after their dignity, self-worth. And I don’t know that there’s a woman anywhere who doesn’t know what that feels like.” 

The ads argue that Toomey, Ayotte and Heck have “stood with Donald Trump” and urge voters to “stop them both” by voting on Nov. 8. 

The three ads are part of a $400,000 digital buy in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Nevada — three battleground Senate states. The ads are the group’s final set for the 2016 cycle heading into the last week of the election cycle. 

Democrats and outside groups have spent months linking GOP lawmakers in tough races to Trump, believing he will turn off moderate and independent voters down the ballot.

Sasha Bruce, senior vice president of campaigns and strategy at NARAL, said Tuesday that “Republicans have enabled Trump and shown voters, particularly women, exactly where they stand.” 

“Trump has spent this entire campaign spewing hateful and dangerous rhetoric and proposing policies that will set women back decades,” she added. “This election is a choice. These Republicans have made theirs, they stand with Donald Trump and will do nothing but enable his reckless and scary agenda.”

Toomey, Ayotte and Heck have split over Trump. 

Both Ayotte and Heck dropped their support for the GOP nominee after a 2005 video surfaced of him discussing groping women without their consent, though Heck has recently dodged saying whom he will vote for. 

Toomey, meanwhile, has said for months that he is undecided about if he can support Trump, despite disagreeing with him on a number of issues. 

It’s not the first time NARAL has targeted the three GOP lawmakers, who are in Senate races that will determine which party controls the Senate next year. The abortion rights group launched a digital ad in late September tying the three to Trump’s past comments on abortion. 

NARAL says it used a new model to target voters who are considered “persuadable,” based off polling that found 7 in 10 voters believe abortion should be legal. 

Tuesday’s slate of ads comes as the battle for the Senate heads down to the wire.  

Democrats need to net five seats — or four if they retain the White House — to win back the majority.

Ayotte and Heck both have narrow leads in their races, while Democrat Katie McGinty is leading Toomey by an average of 4 percentage points, according to RealClearPolitics.