The Associated Press

TULSA, Okla. — Democratic Senate candidate Andrew Rice on Wednesday accused his opponent, incumbent Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, of using a “negative stream of advertising” in an attempt to distort his record to voters.

But a spokesman for Inhofe said Rice was uncomfortable defending his record in the state Senate and as a community activist.

“As a father of two young children and a husband, to insinuate that I don’t care about protecting Oklahomans from violent criminals is offensive to me,” Rice said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. “I just feel Sen. Inhofe is hiding behind these ads, he’s not campaigning, he won’t come debate me, he’s hiding there in Washington.”

Rice referenced Inhofe’s two most recent ads being carried on Oklahoma television stations.

In the first, a spot called “Six Strikes,” the Inhofe campaign accuses Rice of being “one of only four state Senators to vote against making criminals with six or more felony convictions serve at least 85 percent of their time.”

It features ominous-looking mug shots of criminals as a narrator asks, “Murderers? Rapists? Thieves? On Oklahoma streets? So, what was Andrew Rice thinking?”

But the ad appears to be misleading in that murderers, rapists and thieves already have to serve 85 percent of their time. The bill, which never made it out of the House, would have added a new category of offenders found guilty of six or more lesser felonies, such as people who cheated on their taxes, Rice said.

In the second Inhofe ad, called “Amber Alert,” the campaign accuses Rice of being among “only five state Senators to twice vote against making false Amber Alerts a felony.”

The narrator in that ad scolds, “Protecting Oklahoma children is important, Andrew.”

Wednesday, Rice called the legislation among the “re-election bills some politicians run so they can go out to their districts and say they’re tough on crime.”

The bill became law last year.

Rice said Inhofe is “on his fourth attack on me in almost 21 days,” and suggested the veteran lawmaker was “spooked by something.”

An earlier ad against Rice by Inhofe’s campaign contained anti-gay overtones, showing a wedding cake topped by two plastic grooms and a photo of Rice as a young man, curly haired and wearing a leather jacket.

“Politicians don’t act the way he’s acting if they’re confident about re-election,” Rice said. “He’s trying to divide the people of Oklahoma with fear, and that’s pretty obvious.”