Mark Pryor Plans “Substantial” Ad Campaign To Rebut Bloomberg

Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor has had enough. On Friday, the Senator will push back on New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg with his own "substantial" ad buy.

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Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor plans a “substantial” television ad buy starting on Friday to push back on a $350,000 television campaign by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, which was intended to punish the Democrat for his April vote against expanding background checks.

“It’s aimed in response to the outside groups,” said Jeff Weaver, Pryor’s 2014 campaign manager. Weaver would not say the cost, duration, or describe the details of the ad. Though he did respond to a report in Politico, attributed to media tracking sources, that said $30,000 in time had already been reserved.

“Our buy is much more substantial than that,” said Weaver.

Pryor, one of the most vulnerable Democrats in 2014, has been under assault by outside groups attacking him from the left and right with seventeen months remaining before election day.

The Senate Conservatives Action super PAC, which was founded by Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint, has promised to spend $320,000 on a television ad in the state that attempts to paint Pryor as a “liberal” Washington insider who sides with President Obama.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ivY2_MsJPoQ]

At the same time, Bloomberg’s group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, is spending $350,000 on an ad that targets black voters, a traditional Democratic base, by arguing that Pryor is not liberal enough.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uR7Rpr_NmhE]

Pryor ended the 2012 campaign cycle reporting $1.7 million in cash on hand, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. He has raised nearly $2 million through the first quarter of 2013, his campaign reports.

UPDATE: As predicted, Pryor released the ad on Friday, a direct to camera spot focused on rebutting Bloomberg. “I approve this message because no one in New York or Washington tells me what to do,” he says.  Here it is:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=m5JDuTkHt20]