Love says he will remove negative ads if Smith does

Just 30 seconds before Republican congressional candidates Jay Love and Harri Anne Smith were set to appear together live on Dothan television, a Love campaign ad attacking Smith aired.

The two could see the ad on a monitor from their studio seats at WTVY-TV in Dothan.

They exchanged a nervous laugh. Angie Casey, host of the WTVY noon news show “Live at Lunch” had just finished telling them she planned to ask them about the negative campaigning in light of a plea from current Congressman Terry Everett to remove the ads.

Love said he would remove his negative ads if Smith would do the same.

“I would ask Sen. Smith, that if she will take her ads down, I will take down mine,” Love said Tuesday while appearing on “Live at Lunch”.

During Tuesday’s broadcast, Smith stopped short of saying she would take down the ads.

“I will definitely take that into consideration,” she said. “I certainly respect my opponent.”

Later Tuesday, Smith told the Dothan Eagle her campaign was already in the process of removing the ads.

“We took our Montgomery (ads) down before the show and the others will be coming down by Wednesday,” Smith said. “It’s time to start talking again about the hopes and dreams of the people of the Wiregrass and the 2nd District.”

The statements came on the heels of a written release from Everett, the current 2nd Congressional District representative, asking both campaigns to remove the ads.

“The intra-party split must end,” Everett said, calling the ads “instruments of personal destruction for the sake of a political win.”

Both campaigns have run ads recently accusing each of voting to raise taxes, among other charges.

Love said his negative ads have come in response to Smith’s ads.

“It’s documented she began running the negative ads first,” Love said. “We felt like we had to respond.”

Smith said her decision to remove the ads was not in response to Love’s challenge. She did not call on Love to remove his ads.

“He’s going to have to decide what he feels comfortable doing,” Smith said.

Michael Lowry, spokesperson for Love, said Love would remove his ads as soon as he had notice Smith had removed hers.

Meanwhile, the Love campaign responded to a direct mail piece from the Smith campaign that began arriving in some homes Tuesday criticizing Love’s ties to “big oil”, highlighting a 2002 contribution to Love from Exxon-Mobil. However, campaign records indicate Smith also accepted a $500 contribution from Exxon-Mobil four months earlier.

Democrat nominee and Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright said he would be “committed to staying away from negative campaigning” against either of his Republican opponents.

“I’ve never run a negative campaign and will not start with this one,” said Bright, now in his third term as Montgomery mayor.

Love and Smith answered questions for most of the 30-minute broadcast Tuesday. Although their campaign ads portray stark differences between the two, both agreed on the issues put forward. Both said they would vote to allow drilling for oil in U.S. territory, both said they oppose universal healthcare, are against a set timetable for withdrawal from Iraq and would fight to protect the district’s two military installations, Fort Rucker and Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base.

The Republican runoff is July 15. The polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.