Former Sen. Norm Coleman's D.C.-based American Action Network (AAN) is launching a $570,000 television and digital ad campaign in Minnesota's Eighth District to help freshman Republican Chip Cravaack. Coleman's group, one of many new non-profits that can channel anonymous donations for political ads around the nation, is taking aim at DFL challenger Rick Nolan, who appears to be in a tight race with Cravaack in a traditionally Democratic-leaning district in northern Minnesota. AAN, one of several outside groups on both sides that are expected to get involved in the race, announced Monday it is spending $430,000 buy ad time on broadcast television in Minneapolis, highlighting Nolan's previous support for "a European-style national healthcare plan." That would have been in the 1970s, when Nolan represented another Minnesota district in Congress. The group also is spending $80,000 in the Duluth market to attack Nolan on jobs and mining. Cravaack, whose campaign is emphasizing job creation, has introduced legislation that would "fast-track" the environmental permits for the Iron Range's PolyMet mine. AAN's ad faults Nolan for "siding with the (Environmental Protection Agency)."
