Crowley Political Report

Republican Carl Domino is taking a page from the Charlie Crist playbook by running an ad against Democratic Congressman Patrick Murphy before Domino has won the August 26, GOP primary.

Domino is clearly the favorite to win the six-person primary and many would be surprised if he lost the GOP nomination for the District 18 seat. The district is dominated by the Treasure Coast and includes part of northern Palm Beach County.

Murphy defeated Republican first termer, Allen West in a district that Mitt Romney won with 52 percent of the vote. Since then, Murphy has worked the district like a small town mayor. He also has not been shy about bucking the White House. 

In Domino's first television ad, he reminds voters that Murphy supports ObamaCare and immigration reform.  (Note:  Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and former Gov. Jeb Bush also support immigration reform). Murphy is one of only a handful of Democrats to cross the aisle to support dozens of legislative fixes to the healthcare law.

Domino is getting little help from Republican leaders and is relying on his own deep pockets to foot much of the bill for his campaign.

Murphy, who is one of the congressional Democrats top fundraisers, is offering a centrist posture to voters. Roll Call recently changed its rating of the race from "Lean Democrat" to "Democrat Favored."

Domino's ad opens with these lines:

"Washington is broken and Congressman Patrick Murphy is a piece of the problem. Standing with Nancy Pelosi on issues like ObamaCare and amnesty for illegal immigrants."

"To fix Washington, Patrick Murphy is a bad fit."

Here is the Domino ad:

In Murphy's ad, he looks directly at the camera and begins with:

"I'm Patrick Murphy. Two years ago, I promised to be an independent fighter for you. Remember?"

The ad then shows a clip from his 2012 campaign where Murphy says:

"In Congress, I will work across party lines to make it happen."

Here is the Murphy ad:

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