WASHINGTON • Secretary of State Jason Kander is launching his first digital ad, one that criticizes incumbent Sen. Roy Blunt as beholden to Washington interests.

Kander’s Senate campaign advisers won’t say how much they are spending on the online ad, which shows Blunt walking into fundraisers at Washington restaurants. To a tuba-heavy tune reminiscent of Larry David's HBO "Curb Your Enthusiasm" theme, the ad shows Blunt or others walking into 17 fundraisers before Congress went on a summer break. It reminds viewers that Blunt’s wife, Abigail, and three children are lobbyists.

“He raises millions in lobbyist & special interest money,” the ad says.

The Democrat Kander has tried to make an issue of Blunt’s connections to the D.C. lobbying community. Blunt’s son, Andy, is a prominent lobbyist in Jefferson City and also runs his father’s campaign.

Blunt, R-Mo., says he walls off his Senate work from his family’s lobbying. His campaign has accused Kander of hypocrisy because Kander has a few D.C. fundraisers, and Kander has tapped lawyers and donors from other influential sectors to fund his campaign.

The two campaigns have largely held back on major media buys, although third-party groups have begun weighing in, especially on Blunt’s behalf. The Post-Dispatch recently reported that a group associated with Republican operative Karl Rove and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has run $2.2 million in ads praising Blunt and that it plans to spend at least another $2.5 million in September praising Blunt and attacking Kander.

Blunt’s was the first Senate campaign to use a Facebook feature called “Canvas,” that directs targeted users of the social media site to another site critical of Kander.

Chuck Raasch • 202-298-6880

@craasch on Twitter

craasch@post-dispatch.com

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