The National Rifle Association says it plans to spend between $15 million and $20 million this election cycle, reports the New York Times. As of the end of this week it will have spent $6.7 million so far including mail. That leaves the last two weeks before Election Day to make up the lion's share of its action. This week, the NRA unveiled a new ad tagging Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), former Navy vice admiral who is running for the Senate seat of Arlen Specter, as an anti-gun, big government liberal.
It started a new mail campaign supporting Dino Rossi, the Republican running to take Patty Murray’s Senate seat in Washington State. The NRA ia active in 17 states. It has won some attention for supporting a collection of Democrats — among them Representative Brad Ellsworth of Indiana and Gov. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, both running for Senate. It is also supporting 23 Republican Senate candidates. Iin the House, it is supporting 61 Democrats and 197 Republicans.