May 29, 2016
The United States Senate race in Pennsylvania featuring Republican incumbent Pat Toomey and Democratic challenger Katie McGinty continues to heat up following this week's release of a new television ad.
The Toomey campaign posted the 30-second spot "Ethics" Thursday on its YouTube page.
In the first part of the ad, the narrator calls McGinty "an insider with ethics problems," while claiming McGinty "funneled millions of tax dollars to a group that employed her husband."
A quote from former Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania Ed Rendell shifts the focus onto Toomey. The narrator says, "Ed Rendell called Pat Toomey, 'A man of uncommon decency.'"
Rendell responded to the ad, via PoliticsPA: “While it is true that I did say those words a while ago, I am deeply disappointed in the campaign Pat Toomey has waged against Katie McGinty. His ads have deliberately misled voters about Katie and her service in my administration. They are not the ads that would be authorized by a person of uncommon decency, so I now have serious doubts about my earlier characterization of him.”
The ad concludes with the narrator claims Toomey "is rated one of the hardest working senators."
On Tuesday, analysis revealed that Toomey missed 80 percent of Budget Committee hearings. A spokeswoman responded to the Buzzfeed report by citing his 96 percent voting attendance record and inclusion on a list of the “10 Hardest Working Senators in America.”
The McGinty campaign called the spot "misleading."
A recent poll shows Toomey and McGinty in a neck-and-neck race.
