Though Brown has benefited from outside groups, he said in a statement yesterday that he would like them to go away.
“We need to focus on the very real issue of putting people back to work,’’ Brown said. “I wish all these ads from outside groups would be taken down.’’
Warren’s campaign denounced the ads lobbed against her.
“Elizabeth knew there were going to be a bunch of ridiculous attack ads against her,’’ spokesman Kyle Sullivan said. “She wishes they weren’t a part of the campaign. She’s staying focused on the fight for middle-class families and holding accountable those who broke our economy.’’
The two major anti-Brown advertisements that have run so far this year technically fall under the category of issue ads, because they are ostensibly trying to persuade him to alter his positions. The sponsors of those campaigns, the League of Conservation Voters and the League of Women Voters, have targeted Brown on his environmental positions. Both groups have pointed out that they have concurrently run ads against Democrats, in other states, based on those lawmakers’ environmental positions.
Navin Nayak, the League of Conservation Voters’ senior vice president of campaigns, said the group has targeted two Republican senators, two Republican House members, and two Democratic House members in this round of issue ads. The anti-Brown ads are the most expensive.
Nayak said the group’s polling has shown that Brown’s environmental positions are at odds with two-thirds of the state’s voters. He has received a zero rating on the group’s voting scorecard, which includes a vote to continue subsidies for large oil companies.
“He’s from a state where these issues should be completely bi-partisan,’’ Nayak said.
Brown has defended his record in an online video and an op-ed in the Lowell Sun, saying the group’s calculations of his record include his support for a border fence. But he has not bought television time to defend himself.
