The Iowa Progress Project will begin a $200,000 media campaign targeting Cruz. | Getty Conservative group targets Ted Cruz in Iowa

With concern about Ted Cruz rising among rival Republican camps, a new GOP-aligned group is stepping forward in hopes of sinking him.

Starting Wednesday, the Iowa Progress Project will begin a $200,000 media campaign targeting Cruz in the state, where the Texas senator has emerged as the front-runner in a number of recent polls. The commercials, which will air through Dec. 29, will be focused in the Sioux City media market.


The conservative group, which will be airing ads on TV and radio, is the brainchild of Nick Ryan, a longtime political strategist in Iowa who was a former top aide to GOP ex-Rep. Jim Nussle. Ryan is the president of Pursuing America's Greatness, a super PAC supporting Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Iowa Progress Project is the second group to target Cruz. In recent weeks he has also come under attack from America's Renewable Future, a pro-ethanol group headed by the son of Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad.