DCCC ad: Harris's friends aren't your friends

Republican Andy Harris is hanging out with wrong crowd, according to a new television ad from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

"We've met Andy Harris's friends. They're not your friends," says a narrator in the ad. "Like the utilities, oil and gas lobby. They gave Harris big bucks and he voted to deregulate electricity."

Harris, a state Senator from Cockeysville, helped utility companies make "record profits" while Maryland families "paid millions more," according to the ad.

"Now Harris backs big tax breaks for big oil, while you pay more at the pump," adds the narrator.

Last month the DCCC -- which provides assistance to Democratic Congressional candidates -- announced it had reserved over $1 million in airtime to help provide assistance to Democrat Frank Kratovil, who's looking to defeat Harris in the race for Maryland's 1st Congressional District.

Harris's campaign manager, Chris Meekins, responded the charges in an email to PolitickerMD.com.

Meekins said he wasn't surprised Kratovil's "liberal allies would continue their negative politics of personal destruction."

Meekins was referring an ad released last month by the DCCC that attacked Harris's record on health care.

"Andy's comprehensive energy plan to expand domestic exploration, develop the next generation of alternative energy technology, and encourage more conservation is exactly what the voters want," added Meekins.

Kratovil, the Queen Anne's County states Attorney, and Harris are currently competing for Maryland's 1st Congressional District seat. The 1st district includes 12 of the 23 counties in the state, which encompasses all of the Eastern Shore and portions of Harford, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties.

The Kratovil-Harris race is ranked the 52nd most competitive U.S. House race in the nation on Politicker.com's Pindell Report. Politicker.com's Managing Editor James Pindell lists the race as "Leans Republican."

The ad is being run in the Baltimore and Salisbury media markets at a combined $250,000, according the DCCC's regional press secretary Carrie James.