Iowa Gov. Culver goes negative in first ad

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver (D) opened his reelection ad campaign with a TV spot hitting former Gov. Terry Branstad (R) for "cook[ing] the books."

"Cooked books, deficit spending. Increased taxes. Terry Branstad: A past we can’t repeat," the ad says.

Branstad, a former four-term governor, is running as a fiscal conservative

His campaign manager, Jeff Boeyink, quickly responded to the ad.

"There is nothing bright about this ad. It's the same, dreary politics of the past," Boeyink said in a statement. "Iowa voters will remember that is was Terry Branstad who brought open and honest accounting to state government."

The Iowa Republican Party's state convention kicks off next Friday with a speech by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines.