In a racially inflammatory ad, Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis strongly implies that her Republican opponent Greg Abbott doesn’t want African-Americans to vote.
“Greg Abbot is bad news,” says the African-American narrator. “As Attorney General, Greg Abbott tried to overturn the Voting Rights Act. Guess who Greg Abbott doesn’t want to vote?”
Technically, Abbott only tried to overturn part of the Voting Rights Act, the part that required Texas to receive approval from the federal government before changing its voting laws. But the campaign ad, being a campaign ad, lacks that nuance.
The ad then goes through a litany of grievances against Abbott, including his opposition to the minimum, and ties him to Ted Nugent’s comments that President Obama is a “chimpanzee.” “So, if you don’t want Greg Abbott to do more damage to our community, you gotta get out to vote.”
According to the Houston Chronicle, the ad has actually been airing for three weeks already on African-American radio stations. It got wider coverage when Republican operatives got wind of the ad and posted it on YouTube.
Listen to the ad below: