Roanoke Times

Sunday, October 16, 2005

9^th District Candidates Turn Up Volume

By Michael Sluss and Mason Adams
The Roanoke Times

The two candidates for the hotly contested 9th House District seat have drenched radio and, to a lesser extent, television, with new ads in the waning weeks of the campaign.

Republican incumbent Del. Allen Dudley has a new radio advertisement accusing Democratic challenger Eric Ferguson of misrepresenting himself to voters. After the sound of a wolf howling, Richmond lobbyist and Franklin County native Charlie Davis says that Ferguson has a "scary little secret."

"Liberal Eric Ferguson wants you to pay even higher taxes," says the announcer.

A voice with echo effects then intones, "Liberal, liberal, liberal, liberal."

The announcer goes on to say that Ferguson supported the highest tax increase in Virginia's history and will vote for more.

Dudley campaign manager Peter Foster said he's also produced several positive television ads that focus on his experience and accomplishments.

Ferguson, meanwhile, has also produced a slate of radio ads and a television ad.

One radio ad is a response to the "liberal" attack, with Ferguson campaign manager Joe Stanley calling Dudley a liar.

In the television spot, Stanley says Dudley tried to subvert the judicial selection process to make his son a judge, accepted taxpayer money for a nonexistent office and voted against budget money to track down sex offenders. In between each attack, the ad shows out-of-context clips of Dudley speaking at a recent candidate forum.

Others take a somewhat milder tack, with Ferguson continuing to cast himself as an "old-timey Democrat" in the mold of former presidents Harry Truman and Franklin Roosevelt.