Republican U.S. Senate candidate Loleta Didrickson launched her largest radio and television ad buy yet on Wednesday in response to a barrage of attack ads.
Didrickson, the state’s comptroller, said her campaign has been hurt by state Sen. Peter Fitzgerald’s depiction of her as a loose spender for renovating an office when she headed the Department of Unemployment Security.
In response, her new ads hit Fitzgerald for using pictures of an office that was never hers. She takes credit for canceling a potted plant contract that he had mocked. “Stop lying, Peter,” Didrickson says in the ad. “Tell the truth.”
The Fitzgerald camp shrugged off using pictures of an office that never belonged to Didrickson. “It’s a spoof,” Fitzgerald campaign manager Mike Cys said. “It’s making a point she’s a big spender.”
Didrickson’s spot also contends Fitzgerald has tried to hide his opposition to abortion even in cases of rape or incest, raising an issue she had tried to avoid.
Last month, Didrickson told the Tribune: “I wouldn’t run an ad on abortion rights.”
The Fitzgerald ad said Didrickson spent $364,000 on the renovation, suggesting it all went to her personal 15-by-20-foot office.
Actually, the state agency spent $210,000 to renovate two floors, including Didrickson’s office, said Shari Kertez, spokeswoman for the unemployment agency.
The office spent $14,800 on tropical plants from 1992 to August 1993, Kertez said, a contract that was canceled a few months before Didrickson left.
