Both Idaho GOP Sen. Mike Crapo and his Democratic challenger, Jerry Sturgill, debuted new TV campaign commercials last night as millions of Americans tuned in to watch the first presidential debate. Crapo’s ad, his second of the campaign, focuses on his work to help an eastern Idaho lumber company in a dispute with the Forest Service, saying he’s “been extremely instrumental in providing jobs.” Sturgill’s focuses on equal pay for women, calling it an Idaho value and faulting Crapo for voting against two equal-pay related measures in 2009 and 2014 that were backed by Democrats in the Senate.

I’ll have a full AdWatch story on the two new commercials later this week. Crapo’s ad is running statewide, including the Spokane broadcast TV market; Sturgill’s ad, his first, ran only in Boise last night. Jim Weatherby, BSU professor emeritus, called it “politically a smart move” for the two to debut their new ads on a night when far more people than usual tuned into TV with politics on their mind, “guaranteeing a huge audience.”