WASHINGTON — National Democrats launched a new ad yesterday attacking New York Republican congressional candidate Ray Meier, the first of what is expected to be more than $1 million in campaign salvos for one of the most contested House races in the country.

The ad from the House Democrats’ campaign committee also marks their first television ad in the Northeast, showing they have pushed up their timetable for an ad blitz in the central New York district. The 24th Congressional District has been represented for decades by moderate Republican Sherwood Boehlert. Mr. Meier, a Republican state senator, is competing against Democratic Oneida County District Attorney Michael Arcuri.

The Democratic ad attacks Mr. Meier for taking a $22,000 pay raise in the state Legislature while voting against minimum wage increases, but Republicans called it half-baked hypocrisy, because Mr. Meier voted against the pay raise and the Mr. Arcuri got a pay boost from the same measure.

The ad, appearing on stations in Utica, Syracuse, and Binghamton, touts Mr. Arcuri as a “better choice” than Mr. Meier, saying that the Democrat “will stand up to business as usual in Washington and refuse any pay increase until Congress raises the minimum wage.”

Both national Democrats and Republicans have reserved about $1 million in television time each for the race.

Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Mr. Meier “already fits in with the priorities of Bush and the Republican establishment in Washington.”