MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin — Governor Scott Walker's controversial ad attacking his opponent Tom Barrett's record on crime has not aired in the Madison media market since Thursday night, according to a source familiar with the ad traffic.
The ad, "Crime," featured a blurred-out image of a two-year-old who died of a beating in Milwaukee, where Barrett is the mayor. Barrett sharply criticized Walker for the ad at Thursday's debate, telling Walker "You should be ashamed."
According to the source, who researched television monitoring data since Tuesday, the ad ran frequently on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday but not at all on Friday or Saturday on any stations in Madison.
Madison is traditionally a liberal enclave in Wisconsin and is expected to swing Barrett's way on June 5.
Walker's press secretary Ciara Matthews wouldn't confirm or deny that the ad had been pulled, saying "We have mulitple ads running in multiple markets but we dont comment on any of our buys or our strategy."
At a press availability after a campaign stop on Saturday, Walker said his campaign hadn't changed their ad strategy.
"No, our rotation's the same that we planned out till the end of the campaign," Walker told BuzzFeed.
A source familiar with Republican media buys said that if the ad had been pulled, it was likely a strategy to stay positive in the final days of the campaign: "closing positive but not dark."