ALBUQUERQUE—Paul Smith, campaign manager for Steve Pearce for Governor, issued the following statement in response to Michelle Lujan Grisham's latest television ad:

"First, Michelle Lujan Grisham tried to copy Steve Pearce's jobs message. Now, days after Steve Pearce began airing his education ad, she is launching her own ad parroting Steve Pearce's apprenticeship plan, which has been out for months. The truth is that in Congress she never wrote a bill that was passed into law. Now we see her campaign lacks leadership on the issues too.

"More disturbing in the ad, however, is her call to change the Constitution to raid the Permanent Fund and go on a wild spending spree for a laundry list of expensive programs. As the Albuquerque Journal recently pointed out about another Grisham policy that would put New Mexico on a 'path to bankruptcy,' we see she has an array of proposals to bankrupt the state."