The National Republican Congressional Committee will begin airing advertisements Wednesday targeting Democratic Rep. Nick J. Rahall II.

The small buy is intended to show that the committee is readying to take on Rahall’s district — regardless of whether he seeks re-election in 2014. Rahall is considering a bid for retiring Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller’s seat.

The NRCC will spend $12,000 to air the spot from April 3 to 9.

The TV spot ties Rahall to President Barack Obama and taxing the coal industry, both of which are very unpopular in the state, polls show.

“President Obama is strangling the coal industry. No surprise,” a male narrator says. “But it is surprising Nick Rahall is helping him do it. Nick Rahall voted for a massive new tax on West Virginia’s coal industry.”

The advertisement uses Rahall’s vote for the “Back to Work Budget” to show ripple effects of such legislation on the West Virginia economy. The measure failed in the House by a substantial margin, but state Republicans and the NRCC pounced on the vote, issuing press releases slamming the 19-term congressman.

“Nick Joe Rahall is a tireless defender of West Virginia energy, and he has spent his entire career fighting to make sure that the hardworking people of West Virginia have good-paying jobs — anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know their history,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokeswoman Emily Bittner said of the ongoing GOP attacks on Rahall.

This ad buy comes as the NRCC made additional airtime reservations around the country. Democratic sources flagged other media buys from the GOP committee in the Tucson, Ariz., Augusta, Ga., and Minneapolis markets.

Rahall’s staff could not be reached for comment.