Democrat Don Bivens attacks Republican Jeff Flake about his stance on women’s issues in the first TV advertisement in this year’s Arizona Senate race.
Flake is portrayed as being part of the GOP’s “War on Women” in the 30-second spot, which will be airing on statewide cable stations for about two weeks, said Bivens spokesman Mark Bergman.
The ad features the clip of conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh calling Georgetown University law student, Sandra Fluke, a “slut.”
It says Flake opposes a woman’s right to choose, and access to insurance for birth control. Flake has served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2000-2012.
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“He even voted against the breast cancer patient protection act,” the narrator says. “Jeff Flake took a side. Now it’s your turn.”
Speaking to the Tucson Greater Democrats Monday, Bivens said he is 100 percent pro choice and reminded the audience he was on the board of directors of Planned Parenthood in Arizona. He held that position from the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, Bergman said.
“We are going to be punching Jeff Flake in the nose for his complete opposite ends of the spectrum on this stuff,” Bivens said.
Bivens, a Phoenix attorney and former chairman of the state Democratic Party, is facing off against former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona of Tucson in the Democratic Primary.
The winner will face either Flake or Wil Cardon, a Mesa businessman who is challenging Flake in the Republican primary.
Bivens said if Democrats don’t stand up to the “War on Women” being waged by Flake and other Republicans, “We are going to find our national agenda dominated by these extreme social positions. What I think we need to have our national agenda dominated by is caring about the middle class and working families.”
Flake spokesman, Andrew Wilder, declined comment on the advertisement.
The primary is Aug. 28 and the general election is Nov. 6. The winner will become Arizona’s first new Senator in 18 years, and 11th in the state’s 100-year history.
This year’s race to fill the seat of longtime Republican Sen. Jon Kyl will be Arizona’s first truly open race for U.S. Senate since 1994.
In each of the past eight Senate elections, Kyl or Republican Sen. John McCain, have run as incumbents and won rather easily.
A Poll released on Feb. 21 from Public Policy Polling shows Flake leading Carmona and Bivens by 11 points each, 46-35 percent.
Cardon lead both Carmona and Bivens in the poll, too, by 37-33 over Carmona and 38-32 over Bivens.
The poll is based on a survey of 743 Arizona voters between February 17th and 19th.
There is also a longer, 60-second version of the advertisement that is up online.
Stay tuned to the Pueblo Politics blog throughout 2012 for news, updates and information about Arizona politics. You can follow the bloggers on Twitter — Arizona Daily Star reporters Brady McCombs, Becky Pallack and Tim Steller — by clicking on our names.
