Gerson Borrero got ahold of Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr.’s first TV ad in which the scandal-scarred Bronx Democrat casts his primary opponent, Gustavo Rivera, as controlled by outsiders who “want to take out power away from us.”

“Us” in this case refers to the Latino community. Espada, referred to in the ad as “our voice in the Senate,” likes to remind people of the fact that he is the first Hispanic to ever hold a legislative leadership post and accuse anyone who attacks him as being prejudiced.

The ad production is very low budget, but it gets the point across. Singled out for criticism are a handful of “outsiders”: 32BJ’s Mike Fishman (“sued for racketeering”), WFP Executive Director Dan Cantor (“under investigation by the FBI for voter fraud” – not anymore, as of today), Sen. Liz Krueger and Bill Samuels (“millionaire puppet masters who don’t care about our community”).

UPDATE: Rivera’s Espada’s campaign strategist Horacio Gutierrez sent the following response:

This election is about Pedro Espada’s failure to represent our community in Albany and his numerous ethical problems and criminal investigations.”

“He is desperate to change the subject by lying about Gustavo Rivera, but the Bronx is too smart to fall for it. On September 14th, they will vote for a real change in Albany – someone who will never forget that he works for them.”

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