MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Republican U.S. Senate candidate Leah Vukmir released her second television ad of the campaign Monday, with a more light-hearted approach than her first spot, while reports show she has more cash on hand for the final three weeks of the primary than opponent Kevin Nicholson.
The winner of the Aug. 14 primary will advance to face Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin in November. A Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday showed the race between Vukmir and Nicholson to be about even.
Vukmir’s first ad released last month showed her sitting with her holstered handgun, speaking about death threats she said she received as a state senator as an actor recreated a threatening voicemail message.
In the new spot , Vukmir employs humor and cartoonish graphics to talk about how she stood with Republican Gov. Scott Walker against “big labor bosses” and how she will “stand with President Trump” to cut spending, build the wall and “finally drain the swamp.”
Vukmir, Walker and other Wisconsin Republicans often rail against the influence of “union bosses.” In her ad, Vukmir depicts union bosses as bandana-wearing, muscular toughs who surround her in the driveway as she’s unloading groceries from her car.
Vukmir stood up to unions in 2011 when she joined other Republicans in voting for the Act 10 law that effectively ended collective bargaining for public workers, while also forcing them to pay more for pension and health insurance benefits.
But in 2009, when she was a member of the state Assembly, Vukmir co-sponsored and voted for a Democratic bill requiring the history of organized labor and the collective bargaining process be put into the model academic standards for social studies.
Vukmir’s campaign said her new ad will run on broadcast and cable across the state.
The ad comes as the newest campaign finance reports show Vukmir didn’t raise as much money as Nicholson over the second three months of the year, but had more cash on hand.
Nicholson reported raising just over $1 million during the second quarter of the year, about the same as what he brought in over the first three months. Vukmir raised $582,000 between January and March and about $670,000 in the second quarter.
But she entered July with nearly $817,000 cash on hand compared with $770,000 for Nicholson. He’s benefited from millions of dollars more in spending by outside groups trying to bolster his candidacy.
Outside groups have spent $6.4 million on ads for Nicholson and an additional $6.7 million against Baldwin and Vukmir. They’ve spent $1.4 million on ads for Vukmir and just $451,000 against Nicholson, according to a tally by the Center for Responsive Politics.
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