Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) linked his November challenger, Patrick Murphy, to the party that "said no to God" in a new ad released on Thursday.
The spot capitalizes on an embarrassing and potentially politically damaging moment from day two of the Democratic National Convention, when Democrats amended their party platform to add a reference to "God" and to identify Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, after facing heat for omitting both in the first place.
But when the convention chairman, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, brought it to a voice vote, the opposition to the change was louder than its support. After asking three times, Villaraigosa stated that the language was adopted, which elicited more boos.
Immediately after the incident, RNC staffers uploaded the footage to YouTube.
West appears to be the first Republican to use the platform controversy in a campaign ad.
The spot, which primarily uses footage from the DNC convention floor, ends with text. "Three times they said no to God," it reads. "That's Patrick Murphy's party. Are those your values?"
Murphy, West's Democratic challenger, is a relative newcomer to politics. He has said he felt compelled to run in order to oust West.
An August poll had the two men in a statistical dead heat.