The Republican challenger to California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) launched an ad on Tuesday that offered a graphic portrayal of a child “drowning,” apparently due to the governor’s policies.
The ad from challenger Neel Kashkari is set to air statewide, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. It showed a child struggling for breath in a swimming pool as text flashed across the screen.
“When kids in failing schools begged Jerry Brown for rescue…” the text said. “He betrayed them.”
As the child struggled, an arm was shown reaching into the pool and rescuing him.
Kashkari, the child’s savior, said that “every kid in every neighborhood deserves a good education and a chance for a better life.”
“Jerry Brown betrayed our kids,” Kashkari said in the video. “When I’m governor, I’ll fight for kids, not against them.”
It’s unclear how much Kashkari, who worked in the George W. Bush administration and later became an executive at Goldman Sachs, is planning to spend on the ad.
Kashkari made news in August for pretending to be homeless for a week and releasing a video about his experience.
The TPM PollTracker Average on Wednesday showed Brown leading Kashkari by 21 percent.
Watch the video below:
h/t Salon
