Wendy Davis Campaign Accuses GOP Opponent of Ignoring Abuse Allegations

This post was updated at 1:50 pm.

The campaign for Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis released an incendiary ad on Monday accusing her Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, of ignoring allegations of abuse at a state run school in 2005.

“Young boys at a state run school are sexually abused,” the voice over says during the 30-second ad. After eleven months and a notification from a Texas ranger, the ad alleges, “Abbott does nothing.” In 2010, the West Texas State School, a juvenile detention center in Pyote, Texas, closed amid an abuse scandal that involved two former administrators at the center.

“What insider was Greg Abbott covering up for this time?” the ad asks.

The Abbott campaign said in a statement Monday that Davis’s allegations “distort the facts.” The campaign says Abbot was “not legally authorized to prosecute the crimes” at the facility until the local District Attorney requested assistance. Abbott’s campaign also cites an AP report that says the case was “quickly taken over” by Abbott after a request was made in 2007. The campaign suggests Davis is hoping to distract voters from questions about her ethics. “Texans deserve a candidate who puts public service before personal profit, and Sen. Davis’ behavior is unworthy of a candidate for Texas Governor,” Abbott campaign spokesman Matt Hirsch said in a statement.

The ad is just the latest negative ad to come out of the Davis campaign. In early August, the state senator’s camp released an ad alleging Abbott sided with a corporation and not the victim in a rape case that went all the way to the Texas Supreme Court. The Abbott campaign condemned that ad as “gutter politics.” “No one has a stronger record fighting the heinous crime of sexual assault than Greg Abbott,” a campaign spokesperson said in a statement to a local news outlet in August.

Davis is currently trailing Abbott by between 8 points and 18 points, according to poll data published by the Houston Chronicle.