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NRCC Ties Jim Matheson to Obama in New Ad (VIDEO)

The National Republican Congressional Committee is going on the air against Rep. Jim Matheson (Utah) for the second time in three months.

The new ad ties the Democrat to President Barack Obama, who won just 34 percent in Utah in 2008, one of his lowest-performing states in the country. With Obama back on the ballot this cycle, the NRCC is reminding voters that Matheson voted for the economic stimulus package in 2009.

The ad features a clip of Matheson touting the fact that he doesn’t run from the Democratic label and “supported President Obama’s jobs legislation.” It ends with side-by-side pictures of Matheson and Obama.

“Matheson is Barack Obama’s biggest supporter in Utah. What’s happened to Jim Matheson? He’s changed,” the ad’s announcer says.

The NRCC spent $10,000 on the ad, which is running from today to March 22 on cable in the state’s lone media market. The ad is a sequel to a larger ad buy made in December.

Matheson’s re-election was complicated by a GOP-controlled redistricting, but he’s running in the Salt Lake County-based 4th district, which gives him his best shot at returning to Congress for a seventh term. The district leans Republican — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would have won 56 percent there in 2008 — and includes only about a quarter of Matheson’s current district. Democrats in the state say Matheson has won tough races before.

Several Republicans have lined up to run in this new seat, including former state Rep. Carl Wimmer, state Rep. Stephen Sandstrom and Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love.

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