RGA ad weighs in again on Wisconsin race

The Republican Governor's Association released a new ad Wednesday arguing Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett would move Wisconsin backwards if elected governor in June's recall election.

Barrett, who won the Democratic nomination for the seat last week, "raised taxes every year but one," the RGA ad said. Unemployment in his city went up 28%, the ad said.

The campaign of Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who is defending his seat, has leveled similar criticism against Barrett.

A spokesman for the RGA said the ad, their second to hit Wisconsin airwaves in two weeks, was a major statewide buy but declined to say for how much.

"Scott Walker is desperate to divert attention from the fact that Walker has lead Wisconsin to the worst jobs record of any state in the country, and has a legal defense fund as part of an ongoing criminal probe of several of his closest political associates," Barrett spokesman Phillip Walzak said in response to the RGA ad. "They will do anything to distract the people of Wisconsin from the truth about Scott Walker."

Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a tweet posted Tuesday that she would personally assist Barrett by visiting the state to fundraise and recruit volunteers for his campaign.

Voters head to the polls in Wisconsin on June 5.