New Pearce TV ad calls Wilson a liberal

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce has begun airing a new television ad calling his primary opponent a liberal – a continuation of the attacks between the two candidates even as the ad also complains about his opponent’s negative attacks.

Heather Wilson is doing the same thing in her current TV ad – complaining about Pearce’s negative attacks and then attacking him.

Here’s Pearce’s new ad:

The first 25 seconds of the 30-second spot continue Pearce’s recent attack on the fact that Wilson missed 22 U.S. House votes recently because she was in New Mexico campaigning. This ad says she missed votes “just to film negative campaign ads.” In the background of the ad is someone calling out “Heather Wilson” and someone else responding with “absent” several times to emphasize the point.

The last five seconds sort of randomly insert the line, “Heather Wilson. Liberal values, liberal votes.” Then the ad ends with another exchange of “Heather Wilson,” “Absent.”

There’s nothing in the ad to back up the claim that Wilson is a liberal, unless Pearce is claiming that missing votes is a liberal value.

Update, May 1, 8:55 a.m.

Wilson spokeswoman Whitney Cheshire described Pearce’s new ad as “false.” Specifically, she said Pearce knows that Wilson was not filming a campaign ad while she was in New Mexico because he asked her about it at last week’s debate in Los Alamos.

“She told him she did not film commercials and that she had been in Los Alamos,” Cheshire said. “The footage in our campaign ad that he is referencing is from 2006. The key statement in Pearce’s ad is false. More troubling than the mistake is that Steve Pearce approved an ad that he knew was untrue.”