Wiviott is the first House candidate on television

Don Wiviott became today the first U.S. House candidate from New Mexico to air television commercials promoting his candidacy.

The first of two 30-second spots currently running in Northern New Mexico is a humorous attempt to get people to remember the Third Congressional District candidate’s name.

“How do you say this man’s name?” the narrator asks as Wiviott’s name appears on the screen. That’s followed by two people struggling to pronounce it before Wiviott appears and pronounces it.

The ad goes on to show various people praising Wiviott, then reveals that he’s a Democratic candidate for Congress.

The second ad currently on the air is a more serious look at what the narrator calls “a different kind of campaign… a campaign of ideas, a campaign that’s going town to town, person to person.” The narrator talks about education, health care and the Iraq war and calls Wiviott “Northern New Mexico’s next hardworking congressman.”

The campaign declined to release the cost of the ads or say how long they’ll run, but spokeswoman Caroline Buerkle said the campaign is “excited to take this next step… and to communicate with even more voters about how he will bring progressive leadership in the tradition of Tom Udall to Washington.”

The ads are smart. Steve Pearce became the first Senate candidate to air television ads in January because he needed to improve his name recognition outside the Second Congressional District. Wiviott, a political newcomer, needs to increase his name recognition as well.

He also has an opportunity to craft a positive image of himself, and the ads effectively do that.

The ads come as another Democratic Third Congressional District candidate, Jon Adams, has filed a lawsuit challenging Wiviott’s petition signatures. Wiviott filed earlier this week a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. It states that Adams’ challenge is baseless and also fails to meet the requirements for formal challenges.

Adams responded to the motion to dismiss Wednesday afternoon with a news release claiming that Wiviott’s lawyers have been calling him “almost nonstop” and threatening to subpoena or depose him.

“This is about the integrity of the process, and we should let the courts decide it, win or lose, without the tactics of harassment and intimidation,” Adams said in the release. “Frankly, I am disappointed that Don Wiviott and his campaign would take this approach. I thought they were too busy trying to bribe people with free dinners to be delegates for them to the state nominating convention.”

Buerkle said in response that Adams’ statement shows he is “a fringe candidate throwing around bizarre and baseless charges.”

“We are confident that we have sufficient signatures,” Buerkle said. “We will follow the process.”

Here are Wiviott’s ads: