Democratic gubernatorial nominee Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's new ad claims his Republican opponent, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, is against stem cell research, an allegation the Walker campaign called ""an outright lie.""
The ad features Whitefish Bay resident Heidi Fallone, a mother of a young boy with diabetes, talking about the threat of Walker banning stem cell research.
""Stem-cell research gives our family hope. Hope for a cure. That's why politicians like Scott Walker upset me so much,"" Fallone said in the ad. ""He would ban stem cell research in Wisconsin. That's right, ban it.""
Walker campaign spokesperson Jill Bader said the ad is false because Walker is not against stem cell research outright. She said Walker is a supporter of adult stem cell research, a field she said is ""leaps and bounds"" ahead of embryonic stem cell research.
""When it comes to stem cell research, [Walker] just doesn't believe that you need to destroy innocent human embryos to be able to have any medical advances,"" Bader said.
Barrett campaign spokesperson Phil Walzack defended the ad's truthfulness.
""The reality is this: Scott Walker opposes embryonic stem cell research, that is stem cell research. He opposes stem cell research,"" Walzack said. ""There's no great mystery.""
Although Bader said the campaign is not worried about a ""brain drain"" of stem cell researchers, particularly from UW-Madison, Walzack said there could be huge economic ramification in addition to the human component.
Stem cell research is becoming a multi-billion dollar industry, and with Wisconsin's biotech resources Walzack said the state could see great economic benefits. However, he said if there are limitations on this research in Wisconsin, the researchers and opportunities will go elsewhere.
""This is the consequence of Scott Walker's ideological extremism,"" Walzack said. ""Not just the human element, but the economic element, and it is very dangerous.""
