ST. PAUL — Republican Rep. Chip Cravaack explained Friday that his wife and children moved to New Hampshire last year so that his autistic son could get more time with his mother, as he faces questions about his ties to Minnesota from Democratic challenger Rick Nolan.

In his latest TV ad in one of the country’s most heated House races, Nolan says Cravaack, a first-term incumbent, “isn’t from here and he doesn’t live here anymore.”

Cravaack, who moved to a house in North Branch after his family moved east, accused Nolan of breaking a “gentleman’s agreement” not to bring his family into the campaign. He said it was “a little hypocritical” because Nolan’s family lived in Washington when he served in Congress in the 1970s and early 1980s.

“He’s focusing on my family moving out to the East Coast, when he himself moved his family out to the East Coast,” Cravaack said. “He of all people should know.”