Republican Senate hopeful Pete Hoekstra has launched a campaign ad days after taking heat from many sides for a spot that ran in Michigan before the Super Bowl featuring a young Asian woman speaking broken English.
The 30-second ad launched Thursday also takes aim at Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow as the first did, but features a voiceover by Hoekstra and an image of the US Capitol.
Hoekstra spokesman Paul Ciaramitaro says the new commercial "is being added to the rotation" but doesn't replace the ad that debuted Sunday.
Many Republicans and Democrats criticized the earlier ad, which opens with the sound of a gong and shows the woman riding a bike on a path lined by rice paddies. She thanks "Michigan Senator Debbie Spenditnow" for helping China's economy improve.
Meanwhile, an elected official, an Asian American Republican from Washtenaw County, says she's now supporting Hoekstra rival Clark Durant.
County Commissioner Alicia Ping, who originally Hoekstra, now says the original ad forced her to reconsider.
"At first, I was deeply offended by the racial stereotyping and the demeaning character of Congressman Hoekstra's ad," she said in press release, "And the more I saw the ad and looked into the facts, I was also offended by Congressman Hoekstra's hypocrisy because of his own long voting record for irresponsible debt and spending, just like that of Senator Debbie Stabenow."
We'll have more on the controversy that continues to surround the Super Bowl ad coming up tonight on 6 News at 5.
