Television screens in Washington state and the state’s gubernatorial race are heating up Wednesday as the Republican Governors Association began airing its first television advertisement targeting Democratic candidate and former congressman Jay Inslee.

The 30-second spot focuses directly on how Inslee’s time in Congress may have affected small businesses, a record the ad copy describes as “mistake after mistake” involving tax hikes on small businesses, ballooning national debt, and spending on jobs programs that the ad claims never created jobs.

“No one doubts that Jay Inslee’s heart is in the right place. Unfortunately, his ideas are the wrong ones to move Washington forward,” said RGA communications director Mike Schrimpf in a statement to the press. “By raising taxes on small businesses, Jay Inslee has made it harder for them to survive and create the jobs Washington residents need. And while Washington workers hoped the massive spending bill that Jay Inslee supported would drive down unemployment, it failed to deliver its promised results and instead added $800 billion to our nation’s debt.”

“Washington can’t afford four years of a well-meaning, but ineffective governor,” Schrimpf said.

Inslee campaign manager Joby Shimomura rushed out a fundraising email to supporters early Wednesday afternoon asking for donations, characterizing the ad as “dishonest and misleading.”

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