The scandal that has led many observers to dub Mississippi's GOP Senate primary one of the nastiest campaigns in the country has now been commemorated in a television ad.
Mississippi Republican Sen. Thad Cochran unveiled his newest campaign commercial Wednesday, and it continues his efforts to tie his opponent, state Sen. Chris McDaniel, to an ongoing scandal involving a photo of Cochran's wife.
So far, four local activists and officials have been arrested in conjunction with the photo including blogger Clayton Thomas Kelly who allegedly snuck into a nursing home to take the picture of Cochran's wife. Kelly posted the photo on his blog as part of a video designed to fuel rumors of a romantic relationship between Cochran and his executive assistant.
One of the men arrested last week, Mississippi Tea Party Vice Chairman Mark Mayfield, has extensive ties with McDaniel and both candidates have spent the past few weeks trading accusations about the scandal back and forth. The McDaniel campaign has denied any involvement and accused Cochran of attempting to exploit the situation.
Cochran's new ad includes a mugshot of one of the people arrested in the scandal last week and claims the "conspiracy investigation draws closer" to Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel, who is Cochran's intra-party challenger. It also features photos of McDaniel with the two other officials arrested, in an apparent attempt to highlight his ties to the people being investigated in conjunction with the photo.
A spokesman for Cochran said the ad will run statewide on broadcast and cable in the final week before the primary, which is scheduled for June 3.
Meanwhile, the McDaniel campaign released its own ad on Wednesday touting the endorsement of former Alaska Gov. and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Palin narrates that ad, which runs for 60 seconds.
Here's the Cochran campaign's ad:
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