Ads call Kihuen a ‘payday politician,’ Rosen ‘their candidate’

By Megan Messerly

Published Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016 | 10:01 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016 | 1:34 p.m.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is up with two new television ads against Democratic congressional candidates as Nevada enters its fourth day of early voting.

The ads largely continue the arguments that the group has made in recent weeks against Democratic congressional candidates Ruben Kihuen and Jacky Rosen, running in Nevada’s 4th and 3rd Congressional Districts, respectively.

One of the ads targets Kihuen over his connections to a Las Vegas city councilman under FBI investigation and for working for a firm that has lobbied for payday lenders. (Kihuen is on leave from the firm while running for Congress.)

The ad says Kihuen “swims with the sharks” and calls him a “payday politician.”

Kihuen's campaign manager, Dave Chase, called the ad "another absurd smear attack" by Republicans.

"On the issue of payday lending, Ruben and Congressman Hardy have starkly different records," Chase said in a statement. "Ruben has worked to crack down on predatory lending by fighting to enforce tough new rules in Nevada, while Hardy has voted in Congress to prevent the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from holding payday lenders accountable."

The other ad frames Rosen as the chosen candidate of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. “She’s their candidate, not yours,” the narrator says in the ad.

The ad suggests Rosen will “rubber-stamp” the Democratic agenda, including the Affordable Care Act, and asks viewers, “How much do you really know about Jacky Rosen?”

Kihuen and Rosen are trying to turn two Republican congressional seats in Nevada blue.

Kihuen is challenging incumbent Republican Congressman Cresent Hardy, while Rosen is running against Republican businessman Danny Tarkanian for the open seat in the 3rd District.