Congressional candidate jousts with dad in new ad

BOSTON (AP) - Congressional hopeful and Democratic state Rep. Carl Sciortino is playing up his liberal credentials in new ad featuring a light-hearted back-and-forth with his tea party dad, Carl Sciortino, Sr.

The ad is a series of clips featuring the younger and older Sciortino talking to the camera.

The ad starts with the younger Sciortino, who is gay, recalling the difficult conversation he had with his dad when he finally came out and confessed to being a "Massachusetts liberal."

At one point his father puts his head in his hands in mock frustration with his son's support for an assault weapons ban and opposition to the National Rifle Association.

Sciortino also uses his father as a foil to highlight other liberal positions including his support for abortion clinic "buffer zones," gun background checks and equal pay.

Sciortino is one of seven Democrats vying for the seat left vacant by Edward Markey's election to the U.S. Senate in June to fill Secretary of State John Kerry's old seat.

The other Democrats include state Sens. William Brownsberger and Katherine Clark, state Rep. Karen Spilka, Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, former Lexington School Committee member Martin Long, and Stoneham resident Paul John Maisano.

Three Republicans are also running - Boston attorney Frank Addivinola, Framingham veteran Tom Tierney, and Holliston resident Michael Stopa.

The primary is Oct. 15. The winners of that race will face off against each other in the Dec. 10 general election.

The contest is the latest in a series of elections and special elections that have shaken up Massachusetts' political establishment in the years since the death of former U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy in 2009.

Cox Media Group