• The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee opens the vaults, committing $9.1 million to a new ad campaign for incumbent N.C. Sen. Kay Hagan. The Washington Post notes that the size of this ad buy amounts to roughly one third of the DSCC’s cash on hand, reinforcing the argument that the race between Hagan, Republican Thom Tillis, and Libertarian Sean Haugh may decided partisan control of the Senate. The DSCC ad follows.
• Hagan last week threw a “tracker” — a videographer taping her public appearances, most likely for opposition research — out of a meeting in Jacksonville.
• The General Assembly comes back to town today and tomorrow, possibly to finish business until after the November election.
• Left-wing activist and Media Matters founder David Brock takes over the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a former nonpartisan watchdog group that will shift its focus to sliming Republicans and protecting Hillary Clinton, Politico reports. Of local interest: Brad Woodhouse, former Democratic Party spokesman and brother of North Carolina conservative activist Dallas Woodhouse, will run a Democratic 527 fund for CREW called the American Democracy Legal Fund. The 527 can spend money without limits on behalf of Democratic causes but cannot urge people to vote for specific candidates.
