DES MOINES – Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Nussle began airing the first television attack ad of the campaign for Iowa governor Tuesday, criticizing Democrat Chet Culver’s plan to invest part of the public employee retirement fund in venture capital programs.

The commercial, which began airing statewide, features all of the standards of attack commercials – slow-motion and unflattering photos of Culver while an announcer warns viewers about Culver’s plan. Those images are interspersed with shots of worried seniors.

“Can we trust politicians like Culver with their hands in the pension cookie jar deciding how to invest your retirement money?” the announcer asks.

Culver aides said Nussle launched the campaign because he’s trailing in the polls. Nussle aides declined to discuss the ad, saying it speaks for itself.

“I think this ad says a whole lot more about Jim Nussle than it does about Chet Culver,” said Culver spokeswoman Taylor West.

In announcing his economic development program, Culver proposed using money from the Iowa Public Employee Retirement System for capital venture projects. The $20 billion fund finances pensions for thousands of state workers and teachers.

“What makes over 300,000 Iowa families nervous?” the commercial asks. “Chet Culver’s plan to quote, redirect some IPERS retirement funds to invest in high-tech startup companies.”

The commercial said that up to 60 percent of those startup companies fail, putting the pensions of thousands of employees at risk.

Aides for Culver, a former teacher, released an analysis of the ad that rejected Nussle’s charges.

“Chet Culver is an IPERS member himself and would never put the state’s pensions at risk,” the analysis said.

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