Former Chicago Inspector David Hoffman (D) is up with his first advertisement in his bid for President Barack Obama’s former Senate seat. Public polls have shown Hoffmann trailing state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias with two months until the primary, and Hoffman appears to be spending campaign cash — presumably including some of the $500,000 of his own funds he gave his campaign earlier this year — to raise his profile with Illinois primary voters.

Hoffman speaks straight to camera in the 30-second advertisement, which, according to campaign aide Thom Karmik, is a “substantial buy that will reach 75 percent of all Democratic voters.” AKPD Message and Media, the firm founded and formerly owned top Obama adviser David Axelrod, produced the ad.

“Let’s take that fight to the U.S. Senate,” Hoffman says in the ad. “The bankers, the lobbyists and insiders have owned Washington for too long.”

The reference to bankers is an obvious jab at the Giannoulias, who used to manage his family’s Chicago bank. Former Chicago Urban League President Cheryle Robinson Jackson and attorney Jacob Meister are also running for the Democratic nomination.