POSTED: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 10:34pm
UPDATED: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - 11:06am
EL PASO -- Days away from the May 29th primaries, and both incumbent Silvestre Reyes and Beto O'Rourke the presumed front-runners, are running negative ad campains against each other.
Incumbent Silvestre Reyes launched an ad Tuesday questioning Beto O'Rourke's character. While O'Rourke is running an ad questioning Reyes' motives for championing a virtual border fence.
In an ad by Reyes, O'Rourke's criminal past is at the center of the message. The ad talks about a past DWI and burglary arrests.
O'Rourke said he's moved on from those incidents.
"I've made some personal mistakes in my life," O'Rourke said. I've accepted responsibility from those mistakes and moved forward."
The ad launched by O'Rourke's camp, questions Reyes's motives for championing a virtual border fence that was eventually shutdown.
The ad says Reyes received $17,000 in campaign contributions from the contractor, and they also hired his children.
"He has been hammering away at my character, hammering away against my family," Reyes said. I'm the candidate, my family is not running for any office and they should be left out of it."
Reyes says he launched the ad against O'Rourke after being attacked for over a month. He said he wants voters to know who they're electing before they head to the polls.
"People need to know who he is what kind of character he has and decide whether or not they want El Paso's version of Anthony Weiner to go to Washington," Reyes said.
O'Rourke said the ad is a ploy because the race is very contested in exit poll results.
"It looks desperate on his part, but I'm going to continue to take the high road and focus on those issues El Pasoans care the most about."
They both said at the end of the people will elect whoever they feel will represent El Paso best.
Sylvestre Reyes Campaign Ad:
http://youtu.be/OFaQvOEk71o [2]
Beto O'Rourke Campaign Ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl1RIjggT84&feature=youtu.be [3]