In a new television ad, the campaign of Dr. Victoria Wulsin (D-Indian Hill) is going after U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland) for her vote on Ohio's 2003 transportation budget, which raised the state gas tax by 6 cents per gallon over the course of three years.

Wulsin communications director Kevin Franck criticized Schmidt for supporting the "27 percent" increase in Ohio's gas tax because he said it "hurt middle class families across the district who are struggling to keep up with the rising cost of a gallon of gas."

"In Columbus, Jean Schmidt voted to raise the gas tax on Ohio families and in Washington she voted to allow big oil and gas companies to keep billions in tax breaks, all the while raking in campaign cash from the likes of ExxonMobil," Franck said. "If Jean Schmidt thinks it's ok to take money out of the pockets of middle-class families so that her friends at the oil and gas companies can add to their already record profits, her priorities are definitely out of whack."

Franck said Wulsin is "committed to lowering taxes on middle-class families, not because it's a Republican idea or a Democrat idea, but because it's a good idea."

The goal of the transportation bill increase was to secure an additional $250 million annually for Ohio Department of Transportation road and bridge construction projects and $289 million for local projects. The bill was supported by former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft and a plurality of statehouse legislators at the time, including Schmidt.

The Energy Information Agency puts the average Ohio regular conventional retail price of gasoline in May 2003 at $1.42 per gallon. The Ohio gas tax was raised over the three years from 22 cents to 28 cents. In May 2006, the Energy Information Agency has the average at $2.58 per gallon in Ohio.

Update: The Schmidt campaign responded to the ad by calling Wulsin "an astonishing hypocrite."