As we reported in this week's Fair Game, Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Brock has a new television ad out today hitting Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin on his record on taxes and spending.

"It continues to show the contrast between what Gov. Shumlin will do and what I propose doing," Brock told Seven Days late Tuesday. "I propose more focus on honest spending."

Here's what the new ad looks like:

 

According to records filed with the Secretary of State's office, it looks like Brock's buying just $30,000 in air time, which won't get him too far. The Franklin County senator hinted to reporters last week that he may replenish his campaign account with another personal loan — he's already invested $300,000 of his own money — but Brock said Tuesday that he has yet to make such a decision.

Shumlin's campaign plans to air its first two ads of the cycle starting later this week at a cost of $125,000.

We caught up with the governor Wednesday after a press conference at Winooski's MyWebGrocer and asked him about Brock's ad. Though he hadn't yet seen it, Shumlin was more than happy to discuss his own spending record.

"I'm about as fiscally conservative and careful with taxpayer dollars as any governor in Vermont, and we have a great tradition of Vermont governors being really careful with taxpayer dollars," he said. "I'm certainly in the league with the other governors. Whether Republicans or Democrats, we balance budgets. We don't spend money we don't have."

As always, Shummy was ready with a quip — comparing the state treasury to his own bloated campaign war chest, which he's been reluctant to tap.

"I treat taxpayer dollars like I treat my own. Look at my campaign spending. I am cheap," the governor said. "I will manage the taxpayer dollars the same way I've managed my campaign dollars and my own dollars. I'm cheap."

Does that mean the state's poised to get a sweet land deal in East Montpelier? We'll see.

In only vaguely related political advertising news, Rutland City Treasurer Wendy Wilton — the Republican candidate for state treasurer — released her first TV ad earlier this week. Here it is:

 

Wilton's Democratic opponent, State Treasurer Beth Pearce, wasn't too psyched on the spot. On Wednesday, her campaign called on Wilton to take it down, arguing for, like, the millionth time that the U.S. PIRG study to which Wilton refers in the ad does not relate to the treasurer's office.

"By airing this ad, it's clear that Wilton is grasping as straws, using a desperate attempt to gain votes through misinformation," Pearce's campaign manager, Ryan Emerson, said in a press release. "We ask that Wilton immediately remove the ad, renounce her continued lie, and start debating the issues at hand."

And lastly... While we were trolling around YouTube, we came upon what looks to us like a new ad from the conservative super PAC Vermonters First supporting Wilton's candidacy. While the group has been running 15-second ads backing Wilton, we haven't seen this extended, 30-second version before. We'd call up Vermonters First treasurer and consultant Tayt Brooks to ask him about it, but the dude ain't returning our calls anymore.

Here's the ad: