House Republicans’ political arm targets Democrats on national security | McClatchy Washington Bureau

The National Republican Congressional Committee is launching a six-figure digital ad buy designed to cast Democrats running in key House districts as soft on national security.

The spots, set to run on Facebook, will launch Monday, aimed at top NRCC target seats in Florida, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon, Arizona, New Jersey and Nevada. The buy comes as a slate of House races heat up and national Republicans work to defend their majority ahead of a midterms cycle that history suggests will be tough for the president’s party.

The ad buy comes specifically from the NRCC’s “Young Guns” recruitment program as the committee looks for opportunities to pick up seats, especially in states and districts where President Donald Trump won or overperformed last November.

“The Young Guns program is committed to staying on offense and growing our House majority,” said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in a statement.

The ominous-sounding ads tick through a host of threats, from ISIS to North Korea, at a time of mounting tensions between the United States and Pyongyang.

“Terrorists, determined to kill us, disrupt our way of life, threaten our freedom,” intones the ad slated for outgoing GOP Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s Miami-area district, which will become much more competitive with her retirement. “The world is a dangerous place. And yet Florida Democrats opposed giving our military the necessary resources to keep America safe.”

The committee is running district-specific ads, also singling out by name some sitting Democratic members for their votes on the Make America Secure Appropriations Act. A spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee followed up to note that some of the Democrats being targeted in the ad buy ultimately did vote for that measure.

“We need real leadership in the fight against terror,” the ads say.

The spots are targeting the following seats: Arizona’s first district; Florida’s seventh and 27^th districts; Minnesota’s first, seventh and eighth districts; New Hampshire’s first district, New Jersey’s fifth district, Nevada’s third district and Oregon’s fourth district.