New England candidate Tony Windsor has demanded the National Party withdraw a television commercial depicting the former independent MP as a "philanderer" begging for another chance from the electorate.
The advertisement, which is also available , imagines the regional seat as one of two women brunching in a cafe when she receives a text message from a fictional Mr Windsor.
"Hey, New England, how about another chance?" the text message reads.
In a brief exchange, the first woman reminisces that "it was okay for a time, I guess" before the second woman reminds him that he "ran off with Julia."
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The advertisement ends with New England texting Mr Windsor, "Not this time, Tony."
Mr Windsor, who was one of several crossbenchers who supported a minority Labor government led by Julia Gillard in 2010, said the advertisement set "a new low" in National Party campaigning.
The independent candidate said that his wife had been "deeply upset" and that a number of people from the New England community had contacted him "concerned and disgusted" by the TV spot.
"They can throw whatever criticism at me but when it involves and upsets my family that’s another matter," Mr Windsor said.
Last night, Mr Windsor to reiterate his call for Barnaby Joyce and his team to withdraw the "offensive gutter ad."
"I don’t have a problem with any ad if it relates to policy," Mr Windsor told SBS News.
The NSW Nationals maintain the commercial was only launched in response to a negative ad launched by the Windsor camp against Nationals incumbent Barnaby Joyce.
"When contacted by Mr Windsor's team, we offered to remove all negative advertising as long as the offer was reciprocated, but we received no response," a campaign spokesman said.
"The offer stands. We will take down the ad depicting an analogy of Mr Windsor's betrayal of the New England electorate on the condition they take down their attack ads on the current Member."
In a statement, NSW Nationals director Nathan Quigley said Mr Windsor was "clutching at straws" over the advertisement.
"For starters, Tony Windsor currently has five attack ads on air in New England. The Nationals have one," he said.
"The Not This Time, Tony ad is clearly tongue in cheek and in no way does it seriously suggest that Tony Windsor is or has ever been in a romantic relationship with the character in the commercial. Any reasonable person can see that immediately."
With voting in the seat of New England expected to go down to the wire, accusations of underhanded tactics have been made by both campaigns as the July 2 election date looms.
Mr Windsor has said that mining magnate Gina Rinehart has flown in workers to hand out "how-to-vote" cards at pre-polling in Tamworth, a claim denied by Mr Joyce's campaign.
Mr Joyce's campaign manager, Ross Cadell, told SBS News the claim was "pure fabrication".
"It's completely false," he said.
"All the people on pre-poll are local volunteers or party members. It's just another case of Mr Windsor looking for any distraction."
The deputy prime minister has used Facebook to declare that one of his billboards in a "vicious and false attack."
Nor has the campaign been without gaffes. Last week, Mr Windsor for suggesting a former political ally withdrew his support partly because of his experiences during the .
In early June, Mr Joyce after he told a constituent to "piss off" following a heated exchange about mining in a pub in his New England electorate.
For now, it seems unlikely that a truce will be struck.
"The Nats have said to us ‘you’re running negative ads and so are we’," Mr Windsor told SBS News.
"Well, our negative ad is about the non-delivery of the , not someone’s ‘philandering’."
"There is no reason for us to run a negative campaign," a campaign spokesperson for Mr Joyce said.
"Mr Windsor's attack on a decorated Vietnam Veteran and former friend, over his traumatic experiences overseas, show he is capable of doing that himself."
