Hagan airs late radio ad with Obama

After distancing herself from President Obama for months, Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) is closing her campaign with a radio ad featuring Obama’s endorsement.

{mosads}”You know Kay Hagan has been a tireless leader, creating job opportunities here at home and supporting a higher minimum wage. The Republicans are cutting investments in education while protecting tax breaks for the wealthy, so let’s send them a message by voting for someone who shares our priorities,” Obama says in the ad.

The ad is likely targeted at turning out African-American voters in the sharply divided state. Hagan is locked in a tight race with North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis (R) and is banking on big turnout from the Democratic base to pull her across the finish line.

Tellingly, Hagan’s Obama ad didn’t go out until the eve of Election Day, nor was it released early to the media — limiting Tillis’s ability to use it against her with white independent voters. Tillis’s campaign spokesman posted it online Monday evening.