New Wilson ad hits Pearce on Cannon, lab funding

Posted 5/09/2008 12:35:00 PM

Republican Heather Wilson’s newest TV ad, which she unveiled today, attacks Senate primary opponent Steve Pearce on familiar issues while also trying to align her with retiring Sen. Pete Domenici.

Here’s the ad:

The ad again highlights Pearce’s votes to mothball Cannon Air Force base and cut funding for national labs. When talking about the Cannon vote, the ad shows images of Pearce, Wilson and Domenici. It says Pearce “stood alone” in voting to mothball Cannon while the images of Wilson and Domenici vanish.

Pearce’s campaign manager, John Billingsley, said in a news release that the ad is “disappointing” because it’s negative and misleading. Both candidates have been running negative ads while complaining about their opponent’s attacks for several weeks. Billingsley said Wilson’s new ad is “factually untrue” and said it was Pearce whose vote protected Cannon.

“I know it’s the political silly season, but this just makes you shake your head,” he said. “The notion that Steve, a former Air Force pilot who flew missions in Vietnam, would be unsupportive of our military bases would be laughable if it weren’t so outrageous. Heather Wilson is losing and her desperation can be seen in these attacks.”