Senate candidate Curtis releases her first TV ad

HELENA — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Amanda Curtis, who’s been in the race just nine weeks, put up her first TV ad Thursday — less than three weeks before the Nov. 4 election.

Curtis, a state representative and high school math teacher from Butte, said the 30-second spot is up on TV stations across the state.

The ad features the little-known Curtis introducing herself to voters as someone who comes from humble roots and saying she wants to be a voice for “working families like mine” in the Senate.

“The only way to change Washington is to elect folks who know what it’s like when times are tough,” she said in the ad. “Working Montanans deserve one of us in the U.S. Senate.

Curtis is a big underdog in the race against U.S. Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Libertarian Roger Roots for Montana’s open U.S. Senate seat.

Daines, who has been a candidate for almost a year, has raised $6.8 million for his campaign and had TV ads on the air since earlier this year.

Curtis, who became a candidate Aug. 16 after U.S. Sen. John Walsh, D-Mont., dropped out of the race a week earlier, reported Wednesday that she raised $555,000 in the six weeks ending Sept. 30. All but $49,000 of her money came from individuals.

She reported spending just $50,000 through Sept. 30, including a $4,200 “salary” to herself, leaving $505,000 in her account for the final five weeks of the campaign.

Her TV ad takes a page from Curtis’ main campaign message, in which she talks about coming from a broken home in Billings and working her way through college at Montana Tech.

Daines, a former executive for a Bozeman software-development company, reported raising $1.85 million in campaign funds in July, August and September and had $1.6 million remaining in his campaign account on Sept. 30.

About $1.13 million of his money came from individuals during the three-month period, while $515,000 came from political action committees and another $204,000 from joint fundraising committees.

Daines reported spending $1.9 million on campaign expenses during the past three months, pushing his entire campaign spending total to almost $5.3 million.