Gubernatorial candidates issue new ads: Walker stands off the beaten path, Burke invokes Reagan's name

MADISON (WITI) -- The November election is less than two months away, and the Walker and Burke campaigns released new ads on Thursday, September 11th -- and they're sure to shake up the governor's race.

Governor Scott Walker's ad features him standing, shall we say, off the beaten path.

Governor Scott Walker new ad

"The policies my opponent supports, well, they got us in a pretty big hole. Our reforms got us out of the hole," Walker says in the ad.

Meanwhile, Burke says the economic challenges Wisconsin faces are Walker's fault.

"That's a hole that Governor Walker has dug himself. The facts are that we are dead last in the Midwest in job growth," Burke said.

Burke on Thursday released her own somewhat unorthodox ad -- praising a Republican icon: President Ronald Reagan.

Mary Burke new ad

"You know who had a really good idea about taxes? Ronald Reagan. Surprised you, didn`t I? Reagan expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, cutting taxes for working families. You know who had a really bad idea? Governor Walker. He did just the opposite," Burke says in the ad.

One Republican tax expert in Wisconsin's Legislature says the comparison to Reagan is laughable.

"Ronald Reagan was a tax reformer, right, and one of the things he did was simplify the code -- and if you look at Wisconsin, we did exactly what Ronald Reagan did. We, the Republicans simplified that tax code.  We got rid of 17 tax credits that were for the rich and powerful and connected and we got rid of those and we put that money towards tax relief for everybody," Rep. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield) said.

Burke says she knows a Democratic candidate invoking Reagan's name is atypical, but...

"I'm a little atypical for a candidate as well," Burke said.

Burke and Walker have been debating over the airwaves for months, but in October, they will meet face-to-face in two debates: one set for October 10th, and another set for October 17th.