Gregoire on the air with first radio ad

Gov. Chris Gregoire: Getty Images photoGov. Chris Gregoire's (D) campaign has created a new radio advertisement, her first of the 2008 cycle. The ad firmly rebuts the assertion made by the Dino Rossi campaign and ChangePAC that Gregoire is weak on crime, and instead blames the budget that Rossi oversaw as a state senator in 2003 for cutting money from criminal supervision programs.

See the full text of the ad, which uses an older-sounding male narrator and will be running statewide, below.

It's hard to believe Dino Rossi and his special interest friends who are attacking Governor Gregoire on crime.

It's Dino Rossi who wrote the budget that cut millions from supervising felons. Rossi's budget meant more than 14,000 felons would no longer be monitored. And it's Rossi who opposed funding for a commitment center for sex predators. Check the record.

It's Gov. Chris Gregoire who cleaned up Dino Rossi's mess. Crime is now at a 14-year low and no one's been tougher on sex offenders. She started Operation Crackdown to hunt them down, expanded the DNA registry, required sex offenders to wear electronic ankle monitors. And Governor Gregoire has increased sentences for sex crimes.

No wonder that every major police and law enforcement group has endorsed Chris Gregoire.

When it comes to crime, the choice is clear: It's Governor Gregoire who is making our community safer and getting results.

Of particular note is the tag at the end of the ad which states, "paid for by people for Chris Gregoire, Democrat, Governor."

Gregoire strongly emphasizes the word "Democrat", likely playing into the campaign theme the Dems are trying to push that Rossi is ashamed of calling himself a Republican, stating instead that he "prefers GOP Party" on this year's ballot.