Duluth station pulls ad that claimed U.S. Rep. Cravaack not a Minnesotan

A Duluth television station decided Tuesday that yes, U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack does live in Minnesota.

For month, Cravaack, whose family moved to New Hampshire last year while he lives in a North Branch home, has been hammered by Democrats for not living in Minnesota.

But when the DFL put the claim in an ad the Cravaack team got the ad yanked from the air.

The ad, which went live on Duluth stations Monday, included steelworker Ray Pierce saying "Chip Cravaack, he's a pretender" and steelworker Joe Drazenovich following up with "He doesn't know how we live. He doesn't know where we're coming from. He doesn't even live in Minnesota anymore."

Cravaack campaign advisor Ben Golnik said the claim the congressman doesn't live in Minnesota is "an outright falsehood." The campaign contacted Duluth stations to get it pulled from the air.

Update: Golnik said Wednesday that another Duluth station, Northland News Center, also pulled the ad.

Deb Messer, director of sales at Duluth's WDIO, said station officials and their legal counsel reviewed the claim and agreed to the Cravaack campaign's request.

Democratic Rick Nolan, Cravaack's opponent, Monday started airing an ad with a similar claim about Cravaack's place of residence in the Twin Cities.

In it, Nolan accuses Cravaack of a smear campaign and goes on to say, "That's just not the Minnesota way. But maybe he doesn't know that, because he's not from here, and he doesn't live here anymore."