6th District State Senate Race Taking it to the Air

The race for to represent voters in the 6th Senatorial District between incumbent Republican state Senator Tommy Tomlinson and Democratic Candidate Dr. Kimberly Rose has taken to the broadcast spectrum. Both candidates have released television ads recently.

TV ads for Democratic Candidate for State Senate Dr. Kimberly Rose began to air on television September 2, campaign officials confirmed Saturday.

Ads for the State Senator Tommy Tomlinson hit the broadcast spectrum late last week, as the ad was released for broadcast on major cable stations, Tomlinson’s campaign said.

The race for the for the seat of the 6th Senatorial District is on, and by the looks of it, the race could be a duel until Election Day as both sides plan to take the race down to the wire.

‘We’re taking this campaign very seriously and the ad is not in response to Rose’s television advertisement,” said Sean Shafer, spokesperson for Tomlinson Campaign.

Rose’s ad titled “I’ll look out for you”  links Tomlinson, who has held the seat since  1995, to Republican Governor Tom Corbett and his policies.

Corbett is trailing the Democratic Candidate Tom Wolf in most polls by about 20 points, according to recent media reports, and that is something state Democrats are betting on in terms of  changing over the majority in the state senate from Republican (27) to Democrat (23).

“I’ll vote to reverse the Corbett, Tomlinson billion dollar cuts to education spending and make gas companies drilling in Pennsylvania for shale pay their fair share,” Rose says in her ad. She adds that she’ll protect a woman’s right to choose and make job creation priority number one, although it’s the last issue mentioned in the campaign commercial.

Spokeswoman for the Rose Campaign, Kate Martucci said Saturday afternoon that there are only weeks to go before Election Day and we want voters to know what Rose is about before making their choice at the polls, adding the response to the TV advertisement has been “very positive.”

Martucci said Rose, who is a “local business owner” and resident of Northampton, is very concerned with job creation in the state and that Corbett’s record speaks for itself in that the commonwealth is close to dead last in that area while Corbett has been in office.

State Republicans have feared the down ticket effect Corbett would have on state races and perhaps in this race that might be true, although Tomlinson’s ad starts off by separating the incumbent from Corbett.

Shafer thinks otherwise.

“Tommy is an independent thinker and does what’s best for Bucks County no matter who the Governor might be,” he  said, adding that Rose’s ad is not factually based when looking at Tomlinson’s record on the issues.

“If you actually check record, you’ll find her accusations about Tommy are incorrect,” Shaffer said.

Tomlinson’s campaign ad says as much.

Martucci said Rose respects the work Tomlinson has done over the last 19 years plus but said we think its time for a change. Earlier this week, Martucci said Rose was "proudly" endorsed by Emily's List. She said it's not an organization that endorses many political campaigns. In 2011, Rose was the first woman Democrat elected to the Northhampton Township Board of Supervisors. According to Politics PA, SD-6 lies in Democratic-leaning Bucks County. Redistricted in 2010, the area  gives Democrats  a 49% to 38% voter registration edge and leans left in statewide and federal races with a Democratic Performance Index (DPI) of 56%. Shafer said that even with the misguided attempts to connect Tomlinson to Corbett the fact is he was re-elected when former Democratic Governor Ed Rendell received 78 percent of the vote in the district. Adding that no matter who is at the top of ticket, voters have gone with Tomlinson in the past and the campaign expects the same in November. The Rose campaign when asked about the specifics of the cable media buy said its public information that could be obtained from the station. Sources familiar with the ad buy said the Rose campaign spent $140,000 for the purchase that's been airing on stations like ESPN for about the last two weeks. Shaffer said the Tomlinson media buy was for $140,000 and covers about 25 stations.