The campaign for 15th Assembly District candidate Joan Buchanan has begun airing an attack ad against Republican opponent Abram Wilson, but good luck finding it anywhere other than your TV set.

The 30-second commercial criticizing Wilson for his spending and votes on fees as mayor of San Ramon began airing in the last week in both the Sacramento and Bay Area TV markets, but is nowhere to be found on either Buchanan's Web site or YouTube.

Wilson gets particular criticism in the commercial for voting for higher taxes or fees in the city a reported 447 times. The second half of the commercial touts Democrat Buchanan's credentials as a school board trustee in the San Ramon Valley.

"I think the ad speaks for itself," said Buchanan's campaign manager, Jeff Gozzo. He said he didn't know why the ad wasn't on the campaign's Web site.

"Abram Wilson is not the type of leadership we need at this point," he said.

 Wilson campaign manager Matthew Del Carlo said the ad was ridiculous, because city officials often have to raise fees to keep pace with inflation.

"The items they mention aren't indexed to grow with inflation," he said. "These are fees that are only directed to the services that they pay for."

Del Carlo said the ads are a sign of desperation in Buchanan's camp. "They're trying to throw whatever they can at us because they don't have any substantive issues to talk about," he said.

But Gozzo said the ad is more about showing voters a different between Wilson and Buchanan.

"Joan is clearly the better candidate as far as budgeting and fiscal experience," he said.

And Buchanan's campaign isn't running from the ad, he mentioned, when it clearly states it was paid for by the campaign. That's in contrast to an ad for Wilson, Gozzo said, that was paid for by the state Republican party but doesn't list that affiliation because Wilson doesn't want to have a party label.

Wilson's campaign has said the ad mistake is with the party, not the campaign.

Days before the election, the 15th Assembly District race is the most competitive Assembly contest in Northern California, and is the leader in independent expenditures, most of them for Buchanan.

Democrats see the race as critical to creeping closer to a two-thirds majority, while Republicans hope to keep the seat of termed-out Assemblyman Guy Houston (R-Dublin), the only GOP legislator in the Bay Area.

Both campaigns expect a close race, and Gozzo said the energy from being closely watched is palpable.

"Voters are very in tune with what's going on in the country and in the state," he said. "The energy is coming through in all parts of the district, in Elk Grove, in Brentwood, in Livermore, even in San Ramon."

Del Carlo said he expects a long night of watching election returns Tuesday, but thinks Wilson's message is stronger.

"We have a great message of bringing dignified change to Sacramento," he said. "Joan Buchanan doesn't have that."

ELSEWHERE on PolitickerCA.com:

• FPPC documents more than $20 million in IEs this year
• IE groups spend over $100,000 Monday in AD 30
• More IEs for Democrats in ADs 10, 15 and 30
• Wilson campaign not fazed by Buchanan's big-name supporters