A Democratic super PAC released a new ad on Tuesday that closely ties Ohio Sen. Rob Portman to presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump. The ad comes less than a week after the incumbent GOP senator endorsed Trump during a campaign stop in the Buckeye State.
For the remainder of the week, American Bridge plans to run an anti-Portman attack ad that features soundbites of Trump’s most controversial comments and footage of Portman offering the billionaire his support.
“I’m going to be supporting our nominee. It’s incredibly important that we have new leadership at the executive branch,” he says in the ad.
The ad ends with an animated image of Portman and Trump high-fiving, dubbing the Ohio senator “Trump’s man.”
“Donald Trump has proven himself to be unfit to be president, repeatedly making sexist and derogatory remarks and pushing misguided economic policies that will put American jobs at risk,” the political action committee’s president, Jessica Mackler, said in a statement. “But that hasn’t deterred Sen. Rob Portman from putting politics over Ohio voters and fully embracing the Party of Trump.”
Portman, who’s been floated as a potential vice presidential candidate, is in the middle of running an aggressive campaign against Democratic opponent Ted Strickland. The former Democratic governor of Ohio has been hit by his fair share of conservative attack ads in recent weeks as well.
Freedom Partners Action Fund, a super PAC funded by the conservative Koch brothers, announced a $2.2 million ad buy of its own on Tuesday that will go after Strickland’s record on job creation during his four years as governor from 2007 to 2011.
Strickland and Portman are in a dead heat, at 40 percent each, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average of registered voters in Ohio.
