Democrats are going back on the air in support of Ohio’s Aftab Pureval, after Republicans seized on a brief lapse in spending early this week to speculate about the viability of his House campaign. 

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee renewed its ad reservation in Ohio’s 1st District on Monday night, which would leave a lag of about one day between the time the previous reservation expired and when the new one goes into effect Wednesday morning, spokeswoman Amanda Sherman said. 

“Ohio’s 1st Congressional District is a highly competitive race and remains a prime pickup opportunity for Democrats,” she said. 

Pureval, the Hamilton County clerk of courts, has attracted national attention as a relative political newcomer with a shot at unseating a longtime GOP Rep. Steve Chabot in the Cincinnati-area district.

House Majority PAC, a super PAC with ties to House Democratic leadership, also placed a reservation to run an ad in the region, spokesman Jeb Fain said Tuesday. That was for a $253,000 ad, according to the campaign spending tracking service Advertising Analytics.  

Dan Sena, executive director of the DCCC, tweeted Tuesday that a Roll Call story citing Republican sources who questioned whether momentum behind Pureval had flagged was based on “bad info,” and “GOP spin.”  

“Dccc isn’t pulling out of OH1,” he said. “This is gossip not the facts.”

Pureval posted record-breaking fundraising totals in the first weeks of his campaign, causing speculation of an upset in a seat drawn to favor Republicans. 

He’s raised $3.1 million this cycle through Sept. 30, compared to Chabot’s $1.4 million. 

But his campaign has struggled amid a state inquiry into whether he used his local political campaign account to pay for a poll for his congressional campaign. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race Leans Republican. 

Watch: 12 Ratings Changes for House, Senate and Gubernatorial Races — 4 Toward GOP, 8 Toward Democrats