Rep. Tim Walz is being targeted by the National Republican Congressional Committee with a television ad critical of his vote for health care reform. The move comes after a series of robocalls by the NRCC. Walz is in his third term in Minnesota’s First Congressional District and has only one announced challenger, Randy Demmer. Demmer lost to Walz in 2010.

“There’s a cloud over our economy,” the narrator says over the backdrop of a thunderstorm. “Tim Walz’s government takeover of health care. Fear and uncertainty prevent new hiring. Steep fines and new taxes on families and businesses. Half a trillion dollars – money they can’t use to create jobs. Experts say Obama-Schrader will push employers to drop workers’ health insurance. With Walz and Obama…the storm will only get worse.”

According to Roll Call, the ad buy will be $10,000 over three weeks starting Tuesday on cable TV.

Last week, the NRCC hit Walz with robo calls, blaming Walz for the nation’s credit downgrade:

“Tim Walz and his fellow Democrats’ addiction to big government spending has led to a downgrade of America’s credit rating and a dramatic loss in the global markets that could force you to pay more for everyday expenses. While Tim Walz keeps standing in the way of real fiscal reform, middle-class families in Minnesota could now see a loss in retirement savings while mortgage rates, car payments and student loans could become even more expensive.”

Walz has been viewed as vulnerable by Republican since he won the seat in an upset against Republican Gil Gutknecht in 2006. He beat Gutknecht by 6 percent that year, by 30 percent against Brian Davis in 2008 and by 5 percent against Demmer in 2008.

Demmer registered his 2012 campaign against Walz in Febraury and the campaign has a debt of $93,000. Walz had $400,000 on hand at the end of June.

Rep. Tim Walz was announced the winner in Minnesota’s First Congressional District by the Associated Press on Tuesday night. Walz fended off Republican Randy Demmer in a race that was originally seen as the best chance for a pickup for Republicans in Minnesota — and they spent over $500,000 in the effort. At the time the AP called it, Walz had 50 percent to Demmer’s 43 percent.

Walz faced a challenge by state Rep. Randy Demmer which political watchers expected to be close due to the “Republican wave.” Minnesota’s First Congressional District trends Republican, with the Cook Partisan Voter Index rating the district as R+1.

Two polls conducted in the district found the race to be close. In mid-October, a KSTP/SurveyUSA poll found Walz leading Demmer 47 to 42 percent, but a poll on Oct. 28 found Walz leading Demmer 50 to 41 percent.

The National Republican Congressional Committee spent more than $527,000 to defeat Walz on television ads aimed at beating Walz.

Walz outpaced Demmer in fundraising by a 2.8 to 1 margin.

Rep. Tim Walz expanded his lead over Republican challenger Randy Demmer, according to a KAAL-TV/SurveyUSA poll released on Wednesday. The poll found Walz breaking the 50 percent mark, with Demmer getting 41 percent. The poll also found that among voters in the First Congressional District, DFLer Mark Dayton narrowly leads Republican Tom Emmer in the race for governor at 42 percent to 41 percent. Independence party candidate Tom Horner got 13 percent.

Walz and Demmer took most of the votes in the poll. IP candidate Steven Wilson got 4 percent, while independent candidate Lars Johnson got 2 percent. Four percent were undecided.

The economy was the top issue in the district with 58 percent of voters rating it as their primary concern.

The poll surveyed 800 people between Oct. 22 and 26. SurveyUSA has not polled mobile-phones in Minnesota this cycle and the KAAL story doesn’t mention that they did in this case. The survey had a margin of 4.2 percent.

Democratic Rep. Tim Walz released his last ad of the election cycle Wednesday afternoon with a straightforward-seeming piece that serves several functions. It leaves voters with a final upbeat view of the incumbent; presents his regular-guy cred while underscoring his bio (“I’ve been a lot of things in my life: football coach, soldier, teacher, dad. But I’m not a career politician.”), informs voters about election day and polling place hours, and runs down a list of his endorsements and accomplishments. It ends with a direct appeal: “I’d be honored to have your vote.”

In a statement, Walz implies that the ad is a response to attack ads run on behalf of his challenger, GOP-endorsed Randy Demmer. The National Republican Congressional Committee has spent nearly $530,000 on anti-Walz efforts in the district, including two ads (here and here).

Walz’s campaign wouldn’t reveal the size of the media buy for the ad, but said the commercial will be airing in Mankato and Rochester.

“Shady outside groups have spent a lot of money saying some pretty nasty things about me during this election. Southern Minnesotans know the truth. They know I’m fighting for them and I am honored by their support,” Walz said. “I truly believe our best days are ahead,” Walz concluded. “The American, can-do spirit is alive and well in southern Minnesota.”

According to a new KSTP/SurveyUSA poll, incumbent Rep. Tim Walz may be more vulnerable this election cycle than initially expected. Walz leads his Republican challenger Randy Demmer 47-42 percent in the poll, which had a +/- 4.1 percent margin of error.

Walz first entered office as part of the 2006 Democratic sweep of Congress. Republicans have focused on those seats, the seats they lost in 2006, as the political wind has shifted to their advantage this cycle. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has assisted Demmer by purchasing ad time in the 1st Congressional District, a move they touted as an indication that the playing field continues to widen, with Democrats becoming weaker as Election Day approaches.

Walz holds a significant monetary advantage headed into the last two weeks of the campaign. FEC reports released over the weekend showed Walz holding $814,000 left in campaign cash, compared to only $232,000 remaining for Demmer. But with the NRCC providing funding assistance to Demmer, that cash gap could be smaller than those numbers initially indicate.

Patrick Caldwell is the American Independent’s Minnesota correspondent.

Rep. Tim Walz and his Republican opponent, Randy Demmer, have been trading barbs frequently at debates in the district and in ads. The volley of claims have kept the fact-checkers busy, and the once quiet race for Congress has been heating up in recent weeks with an influx of independent spending by Republican groups targeting Walz.

On Wednesday, Walz grilled Demmer on his plan to repeal the health care reform bill. In past debates Demmer has been sharply critical of Walz’s vote for for the federal law.

Walz asked Demmer, “Did you read the bill?”

Rep. Demmer responded: “No. I didn’t.”

That response became a campaign issue for Walz.

“Rep. Demmer is calling for the repeal of the health care law that he admitted today he has not even bothered to take the time to read,” said Walz’ spokeswoman Sara Severs in a statement “That’s not leadership. If you run for Congress and you want to help solve problems in our country, you have to do the work. You have to study the issues and know the details. Rep. Demmer has lost all credibility on the central issue of his campaign. You can’t take him seriously.”

Walz’s campaign told the Minnesota Independent that the congressman had read the bill before voting on it. Demmer’s campaign did not return a request for comment.

Minnesota Public Radio’s Poligraph dinged Walz’s campaign ads for suggesting that Demmer has a plan to privatize Social Security. The fact-checking service notes that Demmer doesn’t have a plan at all for Social Security.

Poligraph deemed the ad false, but it didn’t let Demmer off the hook either. The site evaluated the Republican National Congressional Committee ad in support of Demmer and found it to be false. The NRCC ad says that Walz voted for the stimulus bill which allowed $1.5 billion in green energy funds to “go to companies overseas. Walz helped create jobs in China. And we paid for it.”

Poligraph says, “While it’s true that many wind turbine parts used in U.S. wind farms are made overseas, including China, it’s false to imply that the entire $1.6 billion in the stimulus bill went there.”

The Walz campaign seized on that and called on local stations to quit airing the ad. “The independent Politifact evaluated this claim earlier this year and determined it was ‘false’ and ‘incorrect,’” said Walz attorney and campaign chair Jerry Maschka in a letter to local television stations on Tuesday. “For the sake of both FCC licensing requirements and the public interest, your station should immediately refuse to continue to air this advertisement.”

NRCC created the ads independent of the campaign, but Demmer used the identical talking point in a Monday night debate at Minnesota State University.

That debate also featured a rather interesting quote from Demmer on the history of Israel and Palestine.

He said that “peace talks have been going on between Israel and Palestine for thousands… probably a thousand years.”

That prompted some laughs and a rebuke from Independence Party candidate Steve Wilson. “Probably not a thousand years,” he said.

The once sleepy race for Congress in the First District has heated up thanks to an infusion of cash from national groups such as the NRCC. And it will get an even bigger boost on Demmer’s side with the help of a familiar face: former Sen. Norm Coleman.

His group, American Action Network, which is making independent expenditures against Democrats has announced a $19 million ad campaign targeting House Democrats in 22 districts. Walz is one of those targeted Democrats.

Rep. Tim Walz criticized his Republican opponent, Randy Demmer, on Monday for accepting per diem payments in the state legislature at times when he was not on the clock. Walz raised the issue at a KSTP/KAAL-sponsored debate on Sunday challenging Demmer’s fiscal responsibility statements. Demmer responded that his taking of the per diems was “immaterial.”

Walz campaign spokeswoman Sara Severs said in a statement Monday, “In these tough economic times, voters of the First District think how their taxpayer dollars are being spent is rather material and an important question. Pocketing taxpayer money when you didn’t even show up to work is bad enough — but considering our state’s budget problems — how much did he take for himself that could have been spent on roads, veterans, schoolchildren and seniors in nursing homes?”

Among the charges by the Walz campaign are that Demmer took per diems — daily payments paid by the state to cover expenses like food and housing — at times that he wasn’t in the Legislature. For instance, in 2007, Demmer was paid a per diem on days he was in Washington, DC, at a National Republican Congressional Committee candidate training. And in another instance he took a per diem on Easter Sunday when the Legislature was not in session.

Walz, in contrast, has returned to the U.S. Treasury the automatic raises that Congress receives each year.

The Demmer campaign did not return a request for comment Tuesday morning.

Here is the Walz and Demmer exchange at the debate:

With just over three weeks to go until election day, political groups and candidates are releasing a new flurry of ads. Joel Demos, the Republican challenger to Rep. Keith Ellison, has released his first television ad, while the DFL and Alliance for a Better Minnesota both put out ads criticizing Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Rep. Tim Walz released his third ad of the election cycle — and the first one to target his Republican opponent Randy Demmer.

The DFL’s new ad criticizes Pawlenty’s record on education and says that DFLer Mark Dayton will “make our schools the best.”

“No matter which Tom you pick, you still end up with Tim,” states the Alliance for a Better Minnesota ad. The argument: Both Republican candidate Tom Emmer and Independence Party candidate Tom Horner would continue Pawlenty’s policies.

Joel Demos, “end-times” associate pastor and Ellison’s challenger, released his first TV spot, which according to the campaign will air “between the Gopher game with Wisconsin on Saturday and Randy Moss’ return to the Vikings on Monday” to get “maximum exposure.”

Rep. Walz’s ad criticizes Demmer’s statements in support of privatizing Social Security.

Republican Randy Demmer‘s first television ad of the campaign cycle criticizes incumbent DFL Rep. Tim Walz for supporting health care reform, cap-and-trade legislation and “trillion-dollar deficits.” The ad, which features an ominous photo of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi flanked by lightning bolts, is backed by the National Republican Congressional Committee, which kicked in to fund the media buy.

Here’s Demmer’s ad:

Randy Demmer Photo: Facebook

GOP candidate Randy Demmer has released three radio ads in the First Congressional District targeting second-term Democratic Rep. Tim Walz. In the first two ads, Demmer attacks Walz for voting for health care reform and for supporting cap-and-trade. The final ad is a piece that touts Demmer’s Republican credentials. The campaign follows a television ad released by Walz last week which features his work on veterans issues.

The Walz campaign criticized Demmer’s ads.

“Representative Demmer’s false, negative attacks ads are just one more example that he is a typical politician who is always interested in partisan politics, but never interested in solving problems,” said Walz’ campaign spokesperson Sara Severs. “Voters in southern Minnesota deserve to hear Representative Demmer’s ideas. Instead, after four terms in the state legislature, he is insulting their intelligence by parroting Republican party talking points and using cookie cutter ads.”