Democrat Stacey Abrams is out with a new television ad, suggesting outside groups are distorting her record of working with state GOP leadership on key issues.
"Republican groups from outside Georgia spend millions attacking Stacey Abrams. But Republicans in Georgia say that doesn't match her record," the ad begins.
The 30-second spot hits the Atlanta television market Tuesday, only days after an ad began airing for Abrams’ GOP rival, Brian Kemp, claiming Abrams is campaigning with socialists and is too extreme for Georgia.
The plot
The new ad, titled “Both Sides Agree,” says Abrams, in her tenure as Democratic leader of the state House, worked across the aisle on such issues as transportation, criminal justice and taxes.
It references complimentary comments made by state House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, and well-known state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon.
Ralston is quoted in The New York Times as describing Abrams as a Democrat with "a balanced view of the issues" and "an ability to reach across the aisle."
The ad also references an Associated Press report quoting Peake as calling Abrams a “brilliant woman … one of the smartest people I’ve ever met.”
He goes on to say he’s wary of Abrams’ agenda but calls her a “pragmatist” who always tried to find solutions.
The ad concludes with the narrator saying: “Both sides agree, Stacey Abrams works to help all of Georgia.”
The context
The ad uses a quote from Brian Robinson, a former top aide to Gov. Nathan Deal, to suggest that outside groups' portrayal of Abrams "doesn't match her record in the General Assembly."
But that’s not what Robinson said.
The AP quotes Robinson as saying Abramson "has run a campaign as if she were Bernie Sanders," a reference to the Democratic socialist senator and former presidential candidate.
Robinson added, the AP reports: “That doesn’t match her record in the General Assembly.”
Watch the ad
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