Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Milne released his first television advertisement of the general election Tuesday, and it’s a decidedly negative affair.

Milne spends the first half of the 30-second spot attacking Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin over jobs, taxes, poverty, health care and the incumbent’s out-of-state travel. He spends the second half pledging to clean up the mess.

Milne’s campaign posted the spot online Tuesday afternoon and said a two-week, $79,000 ad buy would hit Vermont’s four network television stations on Wednesday. Here’s what it looks like:

YouTube video

The GOP candidate comes late to the mass media game. Since running a positive, 30-second ad during the last week of August’s primary election campaign, Milne hasn’t run a single commercial. 

In the meantime, Shumlin has owned the airwaves. The incumbent Democrat bought his first spot five weeks ago and has spent roughly $80,000 a week since on an evolving series of ads. If he and Milne continue to spend at the same rate, the governor will be outspending his challenger two-to-one during the final two weeks of the race.

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Paul Heintz was part of the Seven Days news team from 2012 to 2020. He served as political editor and wrote the "Fair Game" political column before becoming a staff writer.