Sen. Richard Burr is the target of a new Internet ad campaign that seeks to tie his political contributions from the defense industry and the Chamber of Commerce to his vote on a bill involving how overseas American contractors handle allegations of rape.

"Did Sen. Burr Put Campaign Cash Above Victims of Gang Rape?" says the online ad that is scheduled to begin running today by Change Congress, a Washington-based group that pushes campaign finance reform.

The group is currently running ads on other issues targeting Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas, all Democrats.

"We've had a series of campaigns that have tried to point out cases where members have voted consistent with contributors but inconsistent with their constitutuents," Larry Sessig, the co-founder of Change Congress said in an interview.

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Republican Sen. Richard Burr has been accused by a Democratic opponent of voting against protecting rape victims working as contractors in Iraq, a charge that he denies.

North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall noted that Burr was one of 30 Republican senators who voted last week against an amendment that grew out of a publicized case of a Halliburton employee who was gang-raped by co-workers, Rob Christensen reports.

"Senator Burr has obviously been in Washington too long," said Marshall, who is one of two Democrats who say they will challenge Burr's 2010 bid for a second term. She is also a founder of a rape crisis center. "This is a clear-cut case of right versus wrong, and Richard Burr got it wrong."

Burr has also drawn criticism from TV comedian/commentator Jon Stewart.

But a Burr spokesman said the case was far more complicated, and the amendment offered by Democratic Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., would not have accomplished what its supporters advertised.

"Senator Burr believes violence against women is despicable and intolerable, and those who have committed or abetted such heinous crimes should be subjected to the full weight of the law," said David Ward, Burr's chief spokesman. "Unfortunately, the Franken amendment would not do anything to protect women from violence or to punish criminals. If it had, Senator Burr would certainly have voted for the amendment."

As in all things, the Minnesota Senate race came down to basketball today.

The lead attorneys for Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken arguing before the Minnesota Supreme Court today are from rival schools.

Coleman's attorney, Joe Friedberg, went to UNC-Chapel Hill for undergraduate and law school.

Franken's attorney, Marc Elias, went to Duke University for a master's degree and law school.

The session was slated to last 50 minutes, a little longer than an NCAA basketball game.

Hat Tip: A Dome reader

Correction: Another Dome reader, who knew Elias, points out we incorrectly stated he went to Duke for undergrad. 

The endless Minnesota Senate recount is affecting Sen.-elect Kay Hagan too.

As Sen. Norm Coleman and Sen.-maybe-elect Al Franken dispute the validity of ballots, they're not just holding up the Senate seat, they're holding up the offices too.

Because Senate offices are distributed by seniority, they cannot be distributed until it's determined whether Minnesota will be represented by a first- or second-term senator.

That's put Hagan on hold too.

Spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan said the senator-elect will move into expanded temporary office space in the basement of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

"They've expanded it to give us a little more room — not a whole lot," she said. 

Is Kay Hagan hoping to run on Barack Obama's coattails?

The Washington Post included the Democratic Senate nominee on a list of candidates who are hoping for a boost from the presidential race: 

Democratic Senate campaign spokesmen for Tom Allen in Maine, Kay Hagan in North Carolina, Al Franken in Minnesota and Rick Noriega in Texas all said they had reached out to the Obama campaign and are pleading for either a visit from the candidate or his wife. Their efforts are not entirely surprising, given Obama’s strength in those states during the Democratic primaries.

Hagan did not attend a Raleigh rally in mid-June, citing scheduling conflicts.

A Duke University professor who was considering a run for the U.S. Senate — in Minnesota — has decided against diving into the political world.

Peter Agre, a Nobel Prize winning chemist and vice chancellor at Duke, spent the summer talking with people in his home state of of Minnesota about entering the Democratic primary for a possible shot at challenging Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, the Associated Press is reporting.

"As much as I'd like to run, I've decided it's just not the time to step in," Agre told the AP.

That, according to the AP, leaves two front-runners for the Democratic nomination — attorney Mike Ciresi and comedian Al Franken.

Hat tip: Jane Stancill