Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Three new commercials hit Nevada airwaves this week in a high-stakes race to replace Sen. Harry Reid, which is key in both parties' fight for control of the Senate and is one of the most expensive contests of its kind in the country.
Republican Rep. Joe Heck and Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto have spent a combined $8 million on their race as of their last report on June 30, while outside groups have poured about $10 million into supporting or opposing the two candidates as of earlier this month, according to Federal Election Commission records compiled by OpenSecrets.org.
The matchup ranks fourth among Senate races this cycle in terms of outside spending. Only Senate contests in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, where vulnerable Republicans are fighting to keep their seats, have attracted more outside cash.
Commercials include:
HECK'S MEDICARE PROMISE
In the second commercial released by his campaign, Heck highlights his work as a doctor and promises he'll preserve and protect Medicare if he's elected.
Cortez Masto's campaign shot back by saying Heck has voted to turn Medicare into a voucher program that would raise out-of-pocket costs for seniors, citing four Heck votes supporting controversial "premium support payments" that were included in symbolic Republican-backed budget resolutions that didn't become law.
Supporters say the premium support payments would simply be another option in addition to traditional Medicare, but critics say such changes could alter the economics of Medicare and make it unaffordable.
Heck's office also pointed to three bills the congressman introduced in the past few years that aimed to control seniors' health care costs. The provisions of one were rolled into another bill that was signed into law in 2015, while the other two have made little progress in Congress.
WALL STREET CONTRIBUTIONS TO HECK
A group called End Citizens United rolled out an ad accusing Heck of supporting Wall Street and oil interests that fund his campaign. It pointed to about $1.8 million in contributions that Heck has received from financial companies and oil and gas interests over the course of his career, and linked them to votes he's made on solar energy tax credits and oil company tax breaks.
Heck's campaign pushed back by saying he ranks high for bipartisanship in Congress, and arguing that Cortez Masto made partisan decisions while she was attorney general in two cases involving Nevada elected officials.
SOCIAL SECURITY PRIVATIZATION
Senate Majority PAC, a group that has ties to Reid, released an ad saying Heck wants to privatize Social Security and risk seniors' retirements on the stock market. It argues that Wall Street bankers who've contributed to Heck stand to gain billions of dollars in fees through privatization.
Heck's campaign pointed to a fact check from Politifact Nevada that rated the privatization argument "Mostly False." The fact check concluded that Heck's plan, which would allow younger workers to voluntarily invest retirement money directed toward Social Security into private accounts, "doesn't merit the sort of concerns or consequences implied by a 'full privatization' of the program."
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
