With polls suggesting that the Democratic primary for New York City comptroller is a dead heat, Eliot Spitzer has started airing the first negative television ad of the campaign. Titled “Our Voice,†it accuses his rival, Scott M. Stringer, of having cut a “back-room deal†to lift term limits and allow Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to run for a third term. The Spitzer campaign also started airing a Spanish-language version of the ad and a similar one on the radio.
Mr. Stringer did testify before the Council in 2008, urging members to vote to extend term limits to 12 years, from 8 years. There is no evidence, however, that he was part of any “back-room deal†to hand Mr. Bloomberg a third term. He endorsed Mr. Bloomberg’s 2009 opponent, William C. Thompson Jr.
As to whether Mr. Spitzer fought against “the same special interests and back-room politicians†that support Mr. Stringer, the claim is so broad that it is hard to quantify its measure of truth. If “special interests†refers to the unions that have endorsed Mr. Stringer, Mr. Spitzer was himself endorsed in previous campaigns by some of the same groups. However, as governor he also prominently clashed with one of the unions backing Mr. Stringer, 1199 S.E.I.U., over cuts that he proposed to health care. Mr. Stringer, like most major New York City candidates who are not self-financing, has accepted donations from people working on Wall Street. As attorney general, Mr. Spitzer led investigations into financial industry practices and made many enemies on Wall Street. The former governor is financing his campaign with money from his family’s real estate fortune.
Although Mr. Stringer did support lifting term limits to allow Mr. Bloomberg to run for a third term, his role in the debate was minor. To accuse him of being part of a “back-room deal†is misleading. And although Mr. Stringer has been heavily supported by labor, a political action committee that threatened to raise major Wall Street money to back him has fizzled. The ad speaks to the caustic tone the campaign has taken in its final days; soon after this ad began airing on Thursday, the Stringer campaign went up with its own negative ad.
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