Braley, Ernst release new TV ads

DES MOINES — Bruce Braley and Joni Ernst, the top candidates in Iowa's U.S. Senate race, released new campaign ads Monday.

Braley's ad touts his effort in 2011 to pass legislation designed to encourage businesses to hire people who have been unemployed for an extended period.

Ernst's ad features Ernst describing the issues in the race that she says are important to her.

Braley, a Democratic U.S. House member from Waterloo, and Ernst, a state senator from Red Oak, are competing for Iowa's open seat in the U.S. Senate being vacated by the retirement of Tom Harkin.

Titled 'Roads,' Braley's ad will be broadcast on network and cable television statewide starting Monday, the campaign said. The ad features John Moyna, owner of C.J. Moyna & Sons in Elkader, Iowa. Moyna's company builds construction equipment that frequently is used in road construction.

'In the heart of the recession, it was a tough time to try to add employees and grow,' Moyna says in the ad. 'But Bruce Braley stepped up and proposed a tax break to help companies hire unemployed workers.'

Braley's Back to Work Act, passed in 2011 as part of larger legislation, exempts employers from paying Social Security taxes on new hires if the person has been unemployed for more than 60 days, the Braley campaign said.

The National Federation of Independent Businesses, which calls itself the leading small business advocate organization in the nation, endorsed Ernst in the race, calling her 'one of the most dependable supporters of small business.'

In her ad 'About,' Ernst asks viewers, 'Want to know what I care about,' then lists protecting Social Security, good schools, good-paying jobs and affordable health care.

'This television ad gives an honest look into Joni's concerns as a mother and a soldier, as well as the priority she will place on protecting Iowa as a United States Senator,' Ernst's campaign manager Gretchen Hamel said in a media release.

Braley ad:

Ernst ad: