Dem challenger launches first TV ads in race to unseat Grassley

Former Iowa Lt. Gov. Patty Judge’s (D) campaign launched its first TV ads of the general election this week, aimed at casting longtime Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) as someone who has changed since he first entered politics.

{mosads}The ads, which will start airing Tuesday, feature a cardboard cutout of Grassley dubbed “Checked Out Chuck.” In the spots, Judge claims that the GOP senator has put Washington ahead of the Hawkeye State.

In the first ad, titled “Plenty,” Judge says she has worked with Grassley numerous times in the past, but that the GOP senator’s more than 40 years in Washington “has changed Chuck.”

“Used to be you could work with Chuck. I did plenty of times, but he’s all politics and partisanship now,” Judge says in the ad. “And he’s turned his back on Iowa.”

The second ad, titled “Questions,” features people asking Grassley about his support for defunding Planned Parenthood and privatizing Medicare.

Democrats have been targeting Grassley’s seat and believe the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is vulnerable, especially because he’s at the center of the GOP blockade over President Obama’s Supreme Court nomination.

Grassley is a popular political fixture in Iowa and he’s always been reelected with more than 60 percent of the vote, but he’s acknowledged this is his toughest reelection to date.

So far, Grassley has maintained a lead in recent polls. A RealClearPolitics polling average has Grassley up nearly 8 points over Judge.