The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is launching a new ad in Iowa Thursday targeting Republican Joni Ernst over her stance on abortion and her sponsorship in the state Senate of a “personhood” bill.  

Ernst faces Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, in one of the most competitive races this cycle. The open seat, currently held by retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, could be one of the six seats Republicans need to take control of the Senate.  

The ad, provided first to CQ Roll Call, features an Iowa nurse named Kim Tweedy who says she has worked on the sexual assault response team.  

“I’ve seen lots of cases, many of them are very brutal. It breaks your heart. I’ll never understand politicians who make it even harder, politicians like Joni Ernst,” Tweedy says. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tpua6TM9dIE&feature=youtu.be  

“She’d outlaw abortion, even for victims of rape and incest. She’d ban a woman’s right to choose, even for women who’ve been through that trauma, absolutely brutalized. Joni Ernst has no idea what people like this go through,” she adds.  

The ad is part of a multimillion-dollar statewide buy, according to the DSCC. It is one of two ads the DSCC is currently running in the state, both starting Thursday.  

Braley has leveled a similar attack at Ernst before, and in a debate last month, Ernst said the personhood bill she sponsored with 20 other members of the state Senate “would not do any of the things that he stated it would do. That amendment is simply a statement that I support life.”  

Polls released Wednesday showed Ernst and Braley locked in a tight race, with Ernst narrowly ahead. A Quinnipiac University poll found Ernst leading by 2 points — 47 percent to 45 percent — and a USA Today/Suffolk poll had her leading 47 percent to 43 percent.  

The race is rated Tossup by the Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call.  

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