Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) released a new campaign ad Friday, calling his Democratic opponent in the governor’s race, Terry McAuliffe, “despicable” and hitting him for investing with a man who has been charged with defrauding insurers.
“Terry McAuliffe invested in an insurance scam that preyed on dying people,” the ad says. “Profiting off the terminally ill? Is that the kind of man you want as your governor?”
McAuliffe has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case, and his campaign insists that he had no active role in the company.
“Terry was one of hundreds of passive investors several years ago and had no idea about the allegations against the defendant — who, at the time, was widely respected by business leaders and elected officials,” McAuliffe’s spokesman, Josh Schwerin, told the Washington Post.
A Quinnipiac poll released Thursday found that McAuliffe had an eight-point lead over Cuccinelli. McAuliffe’s campaign has continuously outspent Cucinelli on airtime.
