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A Democratic super PAC is launching a new TV ad attacking GOP Rep. Ted Budd in North Carolina's Senate race, as outside groups from both parties engage in the contest.
The new ad, shared first with NBC News, is from Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The ad is part of a more than $2 million ad campaign.
The 30-second spot highlights the Budd family's investment in an agriculture business, which went bankrupt.
"Rather than paying back the small farmers what they owed, Budd’s family repaid themselves instead—millions of dollars, with interest," a narrator says in the ad, which will start airing in the Charlotte, Raleigh, and Greensboro markets on Tuesday.
"That’s the real Ted Budd," the narrator says. "He gets paid while North Carolina farmers get screwed.”
The ad references a Washington Post story detailing the bankruptcy, noting that Budd signed as a "co-maker" to a $10 million loan as part of his father's effort to save the company, known as AgriBioTech. The Post reported that "a trustee for farmers and other creditors alleged that his father, Richard Budd, improperly transferred millions of dollars in assets to his family, including Ted Budd."
Budd's father Richard denied those allegations and told the Washington Post, "Your attempts to tie my son to this business are dishonest and offensive. I wish my personal efforts to save ABT had been successful, but they were not. I did my best, but in this case, my best was not enough to save ABT.”
Budd's Democratic opponent in the race, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, has also launched an ad highlighting the bankruptcy.
The two candidates are locked in a competitive race to replace retiring GOP Sen. Richard Burr. The Cook Political Report rates the race Lean Republican.