NORFOLK, Va. — With early voting beginning Friday in Virginia, campaigns in Hampton Roads are turning negative.
Perhaps the most negative ad now airing on TV so far this year is a newly released attack ad from Republican Senate candidate Emily Brewer, who's is facing a Democratic opponent in Clinton Jenkins in the 17th district, which includes Suffolk, a part of Portsmouth, and communities to the west.
The ad features a woman named Kimi who says she's a domestic violence survivor.
It details an allegation of domestic violence against Jenkins involving a family member in 2003.
"He's despicable and a coward and attacked those he was supposed to care for," Kimi says in the ad.
News 3 contacted the court clerk for the Suffolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations court and was told Tuesday the file for the case no longer exists.
On Wednesday, the clerk's office sent the actual file, showing Jenkins was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery of a family member in January 2004.
Court records show the case was dismissed in June of that year.
A spokesperson for the Senate Democratic Caucus called the ad "the most disgusting lie," but did not respond to a follow-up question seeking context for the statement.
The Jenkins campaign did not respond to multiple messages for comment on the ad.
In response to a question about why the campaign is going negative, Brewer said in a statement that voters "have a right to know about Clint Jenkins' record."
Campaign ads in the 24th Senate District between Democrat Monty Mason and Republican Danny Diggs have also gone negative.
"Negative ads can be very effective. The research suggests they often are retained better by voters," said Dr. Jesse Richman, a political science professor at Old Dominion University.
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Richman says the ads can be a turn-off if they go too far.
"It also tends to somewhat sour voters on the electoral process in general, so there can be a little bit of a trade off there," he said.
In Virginia, the only real requirement on the content of the ads is that it identifies who sponsors it.
"Disclose your funding and you can more or less put out whatever message you want to based upon free speech protections," said Richman.
Early voting in Virginia begins Friday and lasts through election day on Nov. 7.
