Updated

Some of the well-funded groups Democratic U.S. Sen. Al Franken has long warned his supporters were coming to attack him may actually be materializing.

This week, the Federal Elections Commissioner posted the registration of the Heartland Campaign Fund, a Super PAC, registered in St. Paul.

Greg Johnson, of St. Paul's Weber Johnson Public Affairs and the PAC's treasurer, said in an email that: "Minnesota voters have an important decision to make on the re-election of Al Franken. The Heartland Campaign Fund intends to engage in a dialogue with voters over the course of the election year."

He told Bloomberg News, which first spotted the PAC's filing, that it would focus on "Franken's failed record."

Johnson's name, however, is a familiar one in Minnesota politics. He has long been a Republican operative and activist. He has been treasurer of Minnesota's Future, a Minnesota-based independent spending committee that spent almost $1.5 million on state races in 2012 to elect Republicans and an equal amount in 2010.

Heartland's creation is the first sign that national spending may be ramped up to take down Franken, who won his first race by a razor thin, recount inducting margin.

Franken has long told backers that he would be targeted.

"We've always known that special interests were going to come after Sen. Franken and that this would be a tight race," said Alexandra Fetissoff, Franken campaign spokeswoman.

Several Republicans are running against Franken.

14031200139 by Rachel E. Stassen-Berger