Ad War Heats Up in Arkansas Senate Race With New Spots

Image from Pryor ad that begins airing Thursday.

The television ad war in Arkansas' Senate race heated up on Wednesday, with Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor and a conservative group spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on new spots airing statewide this week.

Pryor's campaign on Wednesday unveiled two new 30-second ads targeting Republican rival and U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton. The spots will begin airing Thursday and are part of a six-figure ad buy that criticize Cotton for supporting a plan to turn Medicare into a voucher-like system for future beneficiaries.

Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group backed by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, announced it would begin airing a spot statewide criticizing Pryor for supporting the federal health overhaul. AFP said it's spending $606,000 to run the 30-second spot starting Thursday.