Steve Novick (D) is on the air.

The attorney and Senate candidate beat establishment candidate, state Speaker Jeff Merkley (D), to the punch, launching a broadcast television ad campaign this week as he seeks to pull in an upset in the May 20 primary.

The ad will begin airing on local news in the Portland and Eugene media markets and run in the Medford and Bend markets next week. The under-funded Novick campaign is asking supporters to contribute enough to keep the ad on the air and expand its reach.

The 30-second spot, titled “To Tell the Truth,” is a biography piece modeled after the old TV game show of the same name — and doesn’t mention Merkley. The ad was produced by Eichenbaum & Associates — the company behind Sen. Russ Feingold’s (D-Wis.) well-regarded, whimsical commercials.

“I don’t look like the typical politician, but I won’t act like one either. I will fight for the little guy,” Novick says upon the ad’s conclusion. Novick, who regularly makes light of his appearance, is shorter than five feet tall and is missing his left hand.

Novick and Merkley — who is favored by political observers to win the Democratic contest — are battling for the right to face Sen. Gordon Smith (R) in November.
— David M. Drucker