Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and his Democratic rival Russ Feingold are sparring over a new attack ad from the Johnson campaign.
The TV spot accidentally aired on La Crosse television station on Friday morning after Johnson’s campaign says it tried to pull it back in the wake of Thursday’s attack in Nice, France.
The ad hit on Feingold’s votes against the PATRIOT Act and a related bill when he was in the U.S. Senate, saying they were against the interest of national security.
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Feingold pushed back on Friday, saying Johnson is inappropriately using the issue to attempt political gain.
“This issue of fighting ISIS and terrorism needs to be beyond politics,” he said, adding that he stands by the votes outlined in the ad. “What is wrong is trying to politicize this issue, to try to use it as a mechanism to try to get re-elected.”
The Johnson campaign said the votes outlined in the ad were “against having a strong national defense.”
“If Sen. Feingold thinks it’s offensive to talk about his record on terrorism, he should take a good hard look at the votes he cast against our security during his 18 years in Washington,” said campaign spokesman Brian Reisinger.
Reisinger said the ad will be suspended until next week.
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