NRA, labor groups spending big on NC’s Senate race

More outside groups are adding millions of dollars in TV ad spending to influence North Carolina’s U.S. Senate race.

On Friday, the National Rifle Association announced that it will spend $1.7 million on TV ads opposing Democrat Deborah Ross, a former state legislator.

But Ross’ campaign will also get a boost in TV ads starting Friday: $1.8 million in ads opposing incumbent Republican Sen. Richard Burr from the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The NRA ad takes aim at Ross for supporting gun control legislation while in the state House. And it’s the latest ad to criticize Ross for her work as an ACLU lobbyist in the 1990s who “objected” to the creation of a sex offender registry.

In a memo Ross wrote to ACLU members while leading the group in the mid-1990s, she said the registry “would make it even harder for people to reintegrate into society and start over and could lead to vigilantism.” But Ross says she’s always supported the registry and later voted repeatedly to strengthen it as a state legislator.

“Deborah Ross: Too extreme for North Carolina,” the ad concludes. The NRA ad buy is in addition to the $2.3 million the group is already spending in the Senate race.

The SEIU/AFSCME ad argues that Burr has a cozy relationship with oil companies – that he benefits from campaign contributions and stocks while supporting legislation favorable to the companies.

The relationship was the subject of a recent story in The News & Observer. A spokeswoman for Burr countered that “outside groups never dictate his votes or positions.”

The narrator in the ad says “no wonder Richard Burr’s wealth has increased over 500 percent since he’s been in Congress. That’s making Washington work for him.”

Watch the ads below:

This story was originally published October 7, 2016 at 1:50 PM with the headline "NRA, labor groups spending big on NC’s Senate race."