Kim Gedeven

The campaign of Democratic Senate candidate Greg Fischer has accused primary opponent Bruce Lunsford of "distorting the truth" during last night's televised debate on KET.

In a release dispatched this afternoon, Fischer's campaign pointed to an exchange between the two top-polling Democratic candidates over their own histories of contributing to Republicans.

During the debate, Lunsford claimed "I haven't given tens of thousands to Republicans and in fact it has been just the opposite."

"I don't enjoy having to point out this discrepancy," said Fischer, in a campaign release today. "But when a candidate for public office stands before a statewide audience on live TV and says something that's blatently false, I think you have to point that out."

Members of the Kentucky media received a package from the campaign of Democratic Senate candidate Greg Fischer yesterday. Inside was a small plastic luggage tag adorned with a sticker advertising "The Lunsford Collection."

"The Lunsford Collection offers a well-known brand of baggage. After years of hefty advertising investment, customers have come to know The Lunsford Collection name, but it's time they knew the features," reads the back of the tag. "It's heavy. It's dirty. And, Bruce wants Kentucky Democrats to carry it for him."

The campaign of Democratic Senate candidate Greg Fischer launched its most direct attack ad on opponent and primary frontrunner Bruce Lunsford yesterday. Still image from Greg Fischer's attack ad on Bruce Lunsford

The ad - currently available on Fischer's website - slams Lunsford on the Vencor controversy, a series of charges of impropriety against Lunsford's nursing home management business.

The new ad features an elderly woman speaking about Lunsford amid superimposed headlines and quotes from Justice department documents concerning the Vencor charges. All the while a darkened still image of Lunsford slowly shifts in the background as sparse guitar music is played.