One of the most famous politicians in New Mexico history has come out with a TV ad supporting Republican US Senate candidate Heather Wilson but polls still show Democrat Martin Heinrich with a healthy lead in the race with less than a month to go until Election Day.

In a 30-second spot released Thursday (Oct. 11), former US Sen. Pete Domenici, a Republican who served 36 years in the Senate, endorses Wilson and claims that Heinrich “voted for massive new defense cuts that will cost 20,000 New Mexico jobs.”

Here’s the ad:

 

Heinrich campaign spokeswoman Whitney Potter responded to the commercial in an e-mail to Capitol Report New Mexico, saying:

“Heather Wilson’s accusations against Martin Heinrich are getting more desperate, but they’re still not true. The idea that Martin would vote to cut 20,000 jobs in New Mexico is ridiculous, and Congresswoman Wilson knows that. Martin has consistently fought against cuts to our military bases and national labs—like the cuts that the Ryan budget, which Heather Wilson has said she ‘admires,’ would have imposed on our labs. Voters in New Mexico deserve a debate about who will do more to protect and grow jobs for the middle class, not more false attacks.

At just about the same time the ad was released to the media, the national polling organization Rasmussen Reports came out with its latest survey of statewide voters showing Heinrich with a 52-39 lead.

The telephone poll was conducted on 500 likely voters statewide and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent. The poll released Thursday did not include Independent candidate Jon Barrie, with the poll showing 3 percent of respondents preferring “Other” and 6 percent undecided.

Thursday’s results from Rasmussen were identical to a poll it conducted two weeks ago, showing Heinrich up by 13.

The Domenici endorsement comes one day after the National Rifle Association endorsed Wilson and two weeks after US Senators Lindsey Graham, John McCain and Kelly Ayotte appeared in Albuquerque to stump for Wilson.

Update: Wilson and Heinrich appeared on KRQE-TV for a one-hour debate. Click here to see each segment of the debate where Wilson came out very agressively.