Morrisey unveils second TV ad

CHARLESTON -- Republican attorney general candidate Patrick Morrisey on Friday began airing the second television ad of his campaign.

In the 30-second ad, Morrisey says he will stand up to President Obama and the EPA on their "job-killing regulations."

The narrator also notes Morrisey's 20 years of legal experience.

“West Virginia needs an Attorney General who will stand up to Obama and his job-killing regulations,” the narrator says.

In August, Morrisey announced a 17-point plan for his first 100 days in office, including reforms that address government ethics, healthcare, EPA overreach and job creation in the state.

The ad can be seen online.

The release comes one day after Morrisey and Democratic incumbent Darrell McGraw met at an editorial board meeting with the Charleston Gazette. During the meeting, Morrisey hand-delivered another letter requesting a public debate with McGraw.

According to a Gazette story about the meeting, which reporter Phil Kabler called "frequently contentious," McGraw pushed the letter back to Morrisey without reading it.

"It is not appropriate for the attorney general of West Virginia to debate whether or not we ought to follow the law," McGraw said, according to the Gazette. "I am really not interested in giving a forum to those who oppose consumer protection in West Virginia."

Also during the editorial board meeting, Morrisey questioned McGraw's competency to hold office. McGraw, meanwhile, called Morrisey a mouthpiece for corporate interests such as tobacco and pharmaceutical companies that have been targeted in the past by McGraw.

"They lost in court, now they show up in politics," McGraw said during the Gazette meeting. "You can do a lot of things in politics you couldn't do otherwise."

Morrisey also brought up the August incident at Milton when McGraw grabbed a camera from a Morrisey campaign staffer.

"As this campaign goes on, I've become convinced the judgment of Darrell McGraw is impaired," Morrisey told the Gazette editorial board.

Morrisey also accused McGraw of using taxpayer money to help his re-election through an increased number of consumer protection ads this year. He also said McGraw's office structures settlements so his office can spend the money rather than returning them to the state's General Revenue Fund.

McGraw countered those attacks, and touted the $2 billion in settlement funds his office has obtained during his 20 years in office.